Dennis Quaid Celebrated His 70th Birthday with Sweet Video Messages from Loved Ones (Exclusive)

Dennis Quaid is revealing how he celebrated his 70th birthday.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at CinemaCon 2024 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 11, the actor spoke about his April 9 milestone.

“I thought it was going to be working,” Quaid, who was honored at CinemaCon with the Cinema Icon Award, tells PEOPLE. “So my wife, I told her I did not want a party. She gave me a great party a couple of years ago in Nashville. So I told her I didn't want a party.”

He adds, “And so I wanted to be kind of low-key. But she got a whole bunch of my friends to do videos of, you know, talking about me. And it was really wonderful. You know that scene in Huckleberry Finn, where they go back and they're at their own funeral?”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“That's what it was like, and it was really kind of nice and sweet,” Quaid says. “You really get to feel my life and my friends. And that's really how rich, I mean, you feel really rich with, it's about the relationships and the memories you have in your life.”

The Hill star stepped out at CinemaCon with his wife Laura Savoie, whom he has been married to since 2020 — with Savoie wearing an elegant cream netted dress.

On Wednesday, April 10, the pair also attended a red carpet for a screening of his latest film, The Long Game, with Savoie, 30, teaming a pair of classic white pants with a one-shoulder black top featuring a cutout on her midriff.

Quaid also shares son Jack, 31, with his second wife, Meg Ryan, as well as twins, Thomas and Zoe, 16, with his third wife Kimberly Buffington.

Speaking to PEOPLE on Thursday, Quaid also opened up about his thoughts on whether the number 70 was significant or not.

“I don't know. That's the way I'm going to portray it,” he tells PEOPLE. “I'm just going to kind of go by it. I already went through that with 60. And 60 was really not fun in my brain to go with, and then I just turned out to love my sixties.”

He adds, “It was a really great time because life is, the older you get, the more you let go of worrying about this and that. The more gratitude you have.”

Revealing what he would tell his 60-year-old self, Quaid says, “I would tell him, ‘Hey man, just please relax,’ ” adding, “And my 60-year-old self would've said the same thing to my 50-year-old self.”

“Let go and let God,” Quaid concludes.