Dennis Quaid, who stars in the upcoming SF movie The Day After Tomorrow, said that it was easy to transition from the historical epic The Alamo to the movie, about humanity's possible future. "I didn't think about [the transition] that way, because when I was doing them, I thought it was the present," Quaid said in an interview. "Doing The Alamo was like a kid's dream; I grew up in Texas, and I used to play the Alamo when I was a kid. But I've been a fan of disaster movies like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno since back in the '70s."

Quaid said that the idea of jumping into a big summer movie like this one was a fun challenge to tackle, especially with director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) at the helm. "I knew that if there was anybody who could do something like this, it would be him," Quaid said. When asked if he felt concerns about starring in an "event movie," Quaid said, "Oh, not at all. Like I said before, this is Roland Emmerich doing this, and if anybody could do it, he's the man to do it. I just put myself in his hands, and I'm really happy with the results."

Quaid added that he feels the story and characters, rather than the special effects, sustain the movie, in which humanity is subjected to cataclysmic natural disasters. "That's what really carries the film," he said. "Besides all of the disasters that go on, it's got a compelling story so that the audience can link into the film through the story of this father and son who are trying to find each other, this family trying to find each other in the midst of this disaster." At the same time, Quaid admitted that the toughest part of filming was enduring the intense environmental conditions of the shoot in Canada. "We were shooting in Montreal, and it was 40 below outside," he said. "But we're shooting inside, where it's 80 degrees, and we're wearing arctic gear. We've got this wind machine blowing shredded newspaper and soap in our faces. It was tough." The Day After Tomorrow opens May 28.