Dennis Quaid reveals if a ‘Parent Trap’ sequel is possible without late star Natasha Richardson
Elizabeth James may have played a dual role in “The Parent Trap,” but Nick Parker isn’t sure there will be a sequel.
Dennis Quaid reflected on the 1998 classic film, and said that while he would love to give fans the sequel they want, he doesn’t think it’s possible without the late Natasha Richardson.
Quaid, who played a father named Parker, had no idea that his twin daughters Annie and Halley (played by Lindsay Lohan) were switched after they first met at summer camp.
Walking the red carpet for her upcoming movie “Reagan” Speaking in Los Angeles earlier this week, the 70-year-old actor said he didn’t see how a sequel could happen without Richardson, who tragically died in 2009 at the age of 45 after suffering serious injuries during a skiing accident.
Richardson played Elizabeth James, Parker’s ex-wife who gave birth to twin daughters before they divorced, moved to opposite ends of the world, and were each left with the responsibility of raising a child while not telling the girls that two of them existed.
“That would be great, but Natasha. How could we do this without Natasha?” Quaid responded when Entertainment Tonight asked about a potential “Parent Trap” sequel.
He said Richardson’s unexpected death “still breaks my heart.”
This doesn’t mean there won’t be follow-up action.
Quaid said, “You never know.” The 1998 film was already a remake of the 1961 body-swap original; however, the “Flight of the Phoenix” actor believes his film is a classic.
“The Parent Trap It was a whole new career for me. It’s very much in my heart. It’s a beautiful movie,” he recalled. “And I think people will still watch it in 100 years, I really do.”
Quaid also revealed he’s been keeping an eye on his former onscreen daughter, calling Lohan, 38, “amazing,” and adding that she’s “grown up to be a beautiful person.”
Richardson was married to “Taken” star Liam Neeson for 16 years when she suffered serious head injuries in a fatal skiing accident in Canada. The couple had two boys, Michael and Daniel, who were 13 and 12 respectively at the time.
The cast of “The Parent Trap” reunited with Katie Couric in 2020 to reflect on the film 22 years later, and Lohan was moved to tears remembering her onscreen mother.
“Natasha had such beauty and grace and she was very maternal to me,” Lohan said.
Quaid echoed the same sentiments.
“Someone who is so generous and so happy to be there could radiate the joy of being able to do what we do. And that made everything even better,” he added.
When Lohan and Quaid dramatically reenacted the “Range Rover scene”, Lohan burst into tears.
,[It’s] Just heartbreaking,” she said later. “Even in the times that we’re living in in the world, you forget how much you miss people until you’re with them, when you haven’t seen them for a while. And I think those scenes really break me down.”
Quaid has spoken about Richardson repeatedly, keeping his spirit alive even after his passing.
In April, she recalled the time the two met the late Queen Elizabeth II at the 1998 premiere of “The Parent Trap” in London.
“The first thing I notice, besides the queen, is Natasha Richardson. It brings tears to my eyes because she’s such a beautiful person,” the actor told Us Weekly while looking at photos of her. “She and Liam [Neeson] He had two beautiful boys.”
Richardson and Neeson married on July 3, 1994, roughly a year into their relationship. The actor reflected on his wife’s death in an interview with Rolling Stone last year.
“It was a very freak accident,” Neeson, 72, said.
When asked how she “held herself together”, she said, “Life goes on. Natasha’s mom, Vanessa [Redgrave]and her sister [Joely Richardson] I kind of moved in, and I had a wonderful assistant, Joanna…people just came through to help, you know? In a big way. And I’ll never forget that.”
