How the Crew Brought Their ‘Gifts and Talents’ to This Presidential Movie
By Movieguide® Contributor
The cast and crew of REAGAN recently celebrated the work they put into the movie, in front of and behind the camera.
“We had a great time and everybody came and brought their best gifts and skills and talents,” Mark Joseph, one of the movie’s producers, told Movieguide® at this year’s awards gala. “Everybody really worked hard on it.”
Producer John Sullivan added, “[I’m proud of] the work that went into it, to capture eight decades and to put that on film and to have the actors capture it…it really brought the 40th president to life.”
“I’m the most proud of just the production,” REAGAN’s director, Sean McNamara, shared. “We just made something that I think is really special and it reminded the world of what [America] was [like] in the 80s when it was just an amazing place and hopefully we can get back there.”
A member of the movie’s cast, Will Wallace (Edwin Meese), said he was “proud to be part of this wonderful team [and] to retell this amazing man’s life, to be part of telling the story and the incredible changes he brought to our country.”
“I’m just proud as a patriot, proud to be part of it,” he finished.
REAGAN was recently picked up by Universal Pictures for international distribution, per Variety, “for a number of international territories outside of those where it has already released theatrically, and plans for a digital-only launch.”
The biopic earned $30 million in the United States alone.
Dennis Quaid, who portrayed President Ronald Reagan in the movie, was initially hesitant to accept the role.
“Well, I had a year to do it. I was offered the role. I didn’t say yes, but I didn’t say no,” the actor told Screen Rant. “He was my favorite president and everybody in the world — like Muhammad Ali — everybody knows him. They know Ronald Reagan or think they do, so it took me a while. I went to the Reagan Ranch, finally, that’s not open to the public, where they lived and their clothes are still in the closet there. It’s kept exactly as it was.”
Quaid continued, “I could really feel him there, and that was really the beginning of it. I had a year to prepare, and then there was Penelope [Ann Miller] here who basically channeled Nancy Reagan, and so it made it my job so much easier.”
In an interview with Fox News, Quaid said, “It’s a biopic. It’s a love story. It’s about all of us as America, where we used to be. A lot of that gets twisted because people have agendas. And so, yeah, they tried to cancel me a couple of times, but so what?”
“Reagan was like everybody’s dad at the time that he was president,” the actor continued. “And, like all families, that’s either you admire your dad or you’re rebelling against your dad. And there’s a lot of those feelings still hold on. That’s what we were going through with politics or whatever in this country today, a lot of people wanting to kind of relate that to Reagan and make this a political movie, which it’s not.”
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