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I Can Only Imagine’s Madeline Carroll Calls Costar Dennis Quaid a ‘Beautiful Person’  (Exclusive)

Madeline-Carroll
Madeline Carroll attends Vanity Fair, L’Oreal Paris, & Hailee Steinfeld host DJ Night at Palihouse Holloway on February 26, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. Mike Windle/Getty Images

Madeline Carroll is a star on the rise. The I Can Only Imagine actress, 21, couldn’t help but gush over her costar and acting vet Dennis Quaid in this exclusive interview with Us Weekly.

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The film, which is based off the story behind MercyMe’s double platinum song bearing the same title, follows the group’s frontman Bart Millard (played by J. Michael Finley), and his complex relationship with his father, Arthur (played by Quaid), who he lost at 18. 

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Carroll plays Millard’s girlfriend, Shannon, (who would later become his wife) and told Us she was starstruck when she first met the The Day After Tomorrow actor, 63. “I was really nervous [to meet Quaid],” she said.“I loved The Parent Trap, so I looked at him as like that kind of fatherly figure guy, and he does not play that in this movie at all. He is quite the opposite.”

Dennis-Quaid
Dennis Quaid on Today on Friday, March 2, 2018 Nathan Congleton/NBC

She continued: “[Quaid] came onto the set and said, ‘Thank you’ to the group. Said, ‘Thank you,’ to the people who control the lights. Said, ‘Thank you,’ to the people at crowd service. [He] made sure everyone was seen and recognized and just wasn’t like this diva. Which is unfortunate when you come across people like that. But [Quaid is] just a beautiful person. You can see why he is so successful.” 

The Swing Vote star went on to admit that prior to being cast in I can Only Imagine, she almost left her Hollywood career behind. “I was going to quit acting right before I ended up getting the part,” Carroll explained to Us. “When I was younger, I worked a lot, and I was just kind of used to getting roles and parts and things going my way. And then after seeing a struggle and how hard it is for three or four years, I just was more a lot more appreciative of this opportunity.”

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The California native, who told Us she is looking forward to working more in front of and behind the camera, added that the American Crime Story alum left her with some powerful words of advice: “Be gracious, for everything. There is always someone more talented. There is always someone more qualified for a role or a part. There is always someone who’s worked harder for it. So just be grateful and thankful in the moments that you get and the opportunities that you get, because it’s such a tough industry. Just always be grateful and thankful and gracious to everybody.” 

I Can Only Imagine hits theaters March 16. 

With reporting by Marc Lupo 

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