Randy Quaid has claimed he was raped at the age of just five by a teenage neighbour.
Evi and Randy Quaid
The 'Midnight Express' star - the brother of Dennis Quaid - has taken to Twitter to share his experience of sexual assault at the hands of a 14-year-old boy whom had befriended him when he was growing up.
Randy, now 67, claims the boy raped him in the bathroom at his own home whilst his parents were at work, threatening to smash a bottle of rubbing alcohol over his head if he didn't do exactly what he told him to do.
The 'Independence Day' actor went into graphic detail about the ordeal, revealing that when it was over he ran "sobbing uncontrollably" to his mother across the street and told her what happened and they then reported the incident to police officer who lived in the same street who then went and sat with the teenager until his parents came home.
Although Randy did not reveal what happened after he reported the alleged rape, he did say that he believes the trauma of the serious sexual assault was one of the motivating factors in him becoming an actor.
In a series of tweets, he said: "The trauma from the experience probably had something to do ... with me becoming an actor. Immersing myself in a character is a means of channeling the rage, removing me from myself essentially ... allowing me to utilize the emotional baggage that's piled up inside through the years. Many actors have experienced severe emotional ... trauma in their lives to one degree or another. For us, acting is more than just a career, it's a way of coping, a welcomed survival ... I don't speak much about what happened that day so long ago. I grew up believing the incident hadn't affected me ... but I realize as I grow older that it did debilitate me in ways not so evident as to make me fully aware of the consequences of the rape ... on a very deep, personal level. I supressed my feelings and as a result I became very shy, placing too much trust in people undeserving ... of my trust, my instincts for self-preservation blunted (sic)"
Randy - who is married to director Evi Quaid - decided it was time to share the experience with the world following the avalanche of sexual assault and harassment allegations levelled at Hollywood players such as producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and director-and-producer Brett Ratner.
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