Dennis Quaid, 65, Confirms Engagement to Laura Savoie, 26

Actor Dennis Quaid confirmed he is engaged to Laura Savoie, a PhD student, 39 years his junior. Quaid proposed to Savoie during a romantic getaway in Oahu, Hawaii while visiting the state to promote his new movie, Midway. Rumors about the engagement surfaced on Sunday, when TMZ published an Oct. 18 photo showing Savoie with a big ring on her left ring finger.

“It happened on the very northernmost point of Oahu, at Turtle Bay. It was kind of spontaneous. It was very much a surprise,” Quaid, 65, told Extra at the Midway premiere. “I had the ring in my pocket… It has been kind of a month-and-a-half plan… I wanted it to be private.”

Quaid said he proposed while Savoie was trying to take a selfie.

“She was actually taking a selfie of us, and I put the ring in front and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ — and then she fell down,” Quaid added.

On Sunday, TMZ published a photo taken on Oct. 18, showing Quaid and Savoie with a husband and wife getting married nearby. Savoie is seen flashing her engagement ring in the picture, which was taken just minutes after the engagement.

Us Weekly reports the engagement ring was made by Giorgio Bulgari. An insider told the magazine Quaid and Savoie met Bulgari in Italy to pick out engagement rings.

“They all had dinner in Geneva and Giorgio showed them stones — Laura’s ring is the last one he showed them,” the source said.

“She’s a beautiful, beautiful woman. She’s an incredible person. I’m really as happy as I can be,” Quaid told Entertainment Tonight.

Quaid and Savoie started dating over the summer. Savoie is a graduate student at the University of Texas.

This will be Quaid’s fourth marriage. He was previously married to P.J. Soles from 1978 to 1983; Meg Ryan from 1991 to 2001; and Kimberly Buffington from 2004 to 2018. Buffington filed for divorce in 2012, but the split was not finalized until April 2018.

Quaid and Ryan are parents to The Boys actor Jack Quaid, and shares twins Thomas and Zoe with Buffington.

Quaid will next be seen on the big screen in Midway, Roland Emmerich’s new film about the 1942 World War II battle between the U.S. and Japan, after Pearl Harbor. Quaid plays Vice Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, alongside Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Mandy Moore, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas and Darren Criss.

“He was such a character, such a strong personality men would follow him anywhere,” Quid told Extra about his character. He added that “learning about Midway” was one of the perks of making the new movie.

Quaid also recently starred in Kin, The Pretenders, A Dog’s Journey, A Dog’s Purpose and Amazon’s Goliath.

Midway opens on Nov. 8.

Photo credit: Marco Garcia/Getty Images for Lionsgate Entertainment