Reagan Interview: Dennis Quaid & Penelope Ann Miller on Playing Ronald and Nancy

um so to start question for both of you you're both kind of playing very well-known historical figures um in American history and everything everyone knows who Ronald dragon is was there any kind of hesitation in anything in taking on those roles knowing yeah yeah there was because it's like you said everybody knows if he's like Mohamad Ali everybody in the world knows what he looks like acts like you uh sounds like and so uh it's kind of daunting I didn't want to do a Saturday Night Live impersonation of him either you know I wanted to play a real person and play him from his point of view and getting to you have the public face and the figure but you know getting down to how he might have felt inside about things you know along with the vulnerabilities and uh the insecurities that we all have in life you know go through that uh things we overcome and so it took a while to get there going to the Reagan Ranch was uh really would made my decision because I could feel him there he really did do all the work there he really did uh he was not a rich man and which I really came to find out I mean uh their house was what 1100 square feet I couldn't believe Nancy wanted to go there yeah they had a king-sized bed but it was too twin beds that were zip tied together yeah oh their clothes are the closet SLE just like it was modest but you know that was his sort of as one would call his safe space I think that's where he felt the most himself was at that ranch with the horses building fences so Nancy would go there because he loved it so much she learned how to ride because he loved to ride all of those things but that's kind of the beauty of the movie to me is seeing uh what made him the man he became and where what were his beginnings and she was devoted to him too because I don't think that the the ranch was really her kind of place no naturally I think she'd rather have with Betsy Bloomingdale and yeah yeah be in Beverly Hill but she did her love of him was so in great which is which is a great thing about them seeing in the movie and what we learned when we did our research they had an incredible love story and he appreciated her so immensely um especially after his first failed marriage and and he wrote her love notes every day and um they had a beautiful love story um and I think that's what made him the man he was too and became president was because Nancy was there sure yeah and I think that really comes across the movie and not interesting in kind of way too I think it's it's awesome um speaking of writing Dennis there's a bunch of scenes in the movie where you are riding on horses is that that's actually you doing it oh yeah uh I think that's my butt in the saddle yeah yeah pretty sure he can ride a horse I can ride a horse that I refined it the movies so and uh yeah for sure you know rean that they say wrode English which you know everybody thinks he like rode western but it was he really rode English but it wasn't really English he uh he really wanted to be a Cavalry officer as a young man and that's the way he learned to ride so much like the seventh Cavalry and a charge yeah interesting huh I didn't know that um Penelope you also have a bunch of really emotional scenes in the movie I think one of the ones that come to mind is when you rush to the hospital after the assassination attempt and you kind of have to you're going through a lot what was that that's what's great about this movie is you get to go behind the scenes to be a fly of the wall to all that that stuff that you wanted to see with the news coverage was going on right you know I was fascinated so short shortly after he won president pres the presidency and they had just been newly into the White House I think it' been barely a year right and to have that happen to him I mean you one can only imagine um the fear um that runs through you know anyone I'm sure the the masses as well as Nancy his wife of losing her the love of her life and um and even that be that scene that you talk about it is such a beautiful scene because you know she feels guilty that she wasn't there by his side because they were always together and she said I always walk on your left and he's like but then you would have been shot at I mean it just to me just shows how incredibly devoted they were to one another and and um and and even that just seeing her um feeling guilty that she wasn't there for him at this horrible moment um but that he made it and anyway I think that thank you for bringing that up I think that's the beauty of this film is that that love story [Music]