Noah Hamilton Dennis Quaid and Anna Sophia Robb star in "Soul Surfer", which opens Friday.

LOS ANGELES -- Dennis Quaid pulls a rip from his electric cigarette and slumps in his chair, taking a moment to consider the proposition.

"I'm a sports movie hall of famer?" he replies. "Well, I guess I've done quite a few of them, haven't I?"

Um, yes. The list: "Breaking Away," "Everybody's All-American," "Any Given Sunday," "The Rookie," "The Express" and, now, "Soul Surfer," the inspiring true story of teen surfer and shark attack-victim Bethany Hamilton. That film, which hits Friday, is the impetus for this sit-down and the opportune time to present the thespian with this truly great news:

Dennis Quaid is the inaugural member of Page 2's Sport Movie Hall of Fame.

Congrats, man. You're in our Sports Movie Hall of Fame, which we just now made up.

What's the record for sports movies? I want it. (Laughs.) It's nothing I planned on. As a kid, I only played Little League. I was too small for football. So, I wound up in the drama department. I wanted to play sports, but I wasn't developed enough. Now that I'm past my prime, I'm getting all these roles? (Laughs.) Weird timing.

Why "Soul Surfer"?

Bethany's inspiring story. She made this horrific shark attack into a bump in her road. I remember seeing her on "The Today Show," before they were talking about doing a movie, and being struck by her spirit and optimism. It made me well-up, actually. A few days later, my agent called and said, "Do you know who Bethany Hamilton is? They want you to play her father." I said: "I'll do it."

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