‘Reagan Embodied America’: Dennis Quaid on What Drew Him to Latest Role
By Movieguide® Contributor
Dennis Quaid is no stranger to portraying famous people — from Jerry Lee Lewis to former president Bill Clinton in THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP — but the role of another former president Ronald Reagan was his most “daunting.”
Quaid Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">told CBN News that playing The Gipper was the, “biggest challenge of my life, and I’m really glad I did it.”
“I realized that Reagan was not a rich man; he was a humble man. And that’s when I made him even greater in my mind,” he Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">said.
The veteran actor explains that the biopic brings to life an age that a younger generation never experienced.
“If you were born in 1983, you don’t really remember the Reagan presidency or what the world was like,” he Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">said. “I think it’s important to show those who are about 40 years old or younger what the world was like during that era.”
“President Reagan embodied America,” Quaid went on to Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">say. “He shared principles and the importance of America that were unparalleled, and we need to see that again.”
Reagan.html">READ MORE: Reagan REVIEW
The 70-year-old Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">recounted that Reagan came at a time when the U.S. was still in the Cold War and how he was instrumental in keeping tensions from escalating by “standing up to the Soviets.”
“He was the first one to say, ‘No,’ to them,” Quaid Reagan-and-finding-jesus/">said.
Playing the Great Communicator, though the most demanding, was his favorite role, calling the 40th president a “hero of mine.”
“I voted for him twice and he was like, everybody’s dad,” Quaid Reagan-and-forge-score-top-10-box-office">revealed in another CBN interview. “He was a real heavyweight, and he won the Cold War. It really meant a lot to me in my life for all of us of that generation and for the generations today.”
The Texas native, who was raised Baptist, shared about his return to his Christian roots after fighting drug addiction and searching out other religions like Buddhism and Islam.
“I remember going home and having kind of a white light experience that I saw myself either dead or in jail or losing everything I had, and I didn’t want that,” he told PEOPLE magazine.
“When you’re done with the addiction, you need something to fill that hole, something that really works, right?” he went on to say.
That’s when he “started developing a relationship” with Jesus, Quaid said. “Before that, I didn’t have one, even though I grew up as a Christian.”
Last year, the Movieguide® Grace award winner came out with the gospel album Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners which debuted in the Top 15 on Billboard Top 200 Christian/Gospel chart.
READ MORE: Dennis Quaid’S GOSPEL ALBUM TOPS CHRISTIAN CHARTS
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +2