Personally Speaking ep. 222 (Dennis Quaid) [Re-Run]

this week I'm personally speaking Our Guest is the actor Dennis Quaid great actor who's come out with a new movie where he plays Ronald Reagan stay with us please [Music] [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to personally speaking I'm your host monor Jim lanti and the Emmy award-winning actor Dennis Quaid joins me now Dennis is known for his roles in hit films including the rookie The Parent Trap uh Soul surf of the right stuff and many others he recently completed production portraying the 40th President of the United States in a film called Reagan directed by Sha mcnamar which will be released in theaters Nationwide next month alongside his acting career Dennis is also a respected singer and songwriter his debut gospel album was called Fallen subtitled a gospel record for Sinners was released last year and includes moving Renditions of seven hymns and Classics along with five original inspiring songs Dennis is married to Laura and is the proud father of actor Jack Wade and twins Thomas and Zoe he's here with us today to talk talk about his life his career his values that matter the most to him and the faith he relies on joining me now I'm so pleased to welcome to personally speaking actor and musician Dennis Quaid Dennis Quaid is our guest a great actor great singer great composer and now he has a wonderful new movie we some months ago had the director Shan mcnamar on it's called Reagan and Dennis of course plays Ronald Reagan now uh I want our listeners and Watchers on sirusxm and elsewhere around the country to know that while it opens in August uh it's possible to get tickets right now starting July 4th so do that Dennis I can't wait to see the movie I've heard great things about it from Shan certainly here's my question um you've said in other interviews and and it's exactly how I feel in my lifetime that he would be my favorite President my mom who was born during wdro Wilson's time and only passed away in Joe Biden's time if you asked her of all those president she say uh Ronald Reagan for sure what is it about this man a politician who left office as much or more popular than he was when he got elected what is there about his nature that made him so well loved uh that's uh pretty interesting about your mother uh you know who lived through Wilson all the way through the 20th century and uh I think uh maybe Teddy Roosevelt was uh you know may have given him a run for his money but uh Reagan was my favorite President too a uh I voted for him and uh came home I had a roommate he said who'd you vote for I said Reagan he said you are kicked out of the hippies that was the price that I paid but yes it is opening August 30th and uh people uh that's why I'm here because to just to let people know that thinking tickets are now available uh for groups and individuals now if they go to reagan. movie and they can reserve a seat and I think it's going to be filled up that's my hope and prayer oh I think me very very popular and and you know one of the things you touch on in the movie and you can't miss it in his life is everybody in politics talks about God bless you and all the rest God seems to be mentioned a lot but there doesn't seem to be a doubt in anyone's mind that his faith was real in researching for the role did you find out where does this faith of his come from yeah that's reflected in the movie his faith You Know It uh starts from where he came from in Dixon and the great thing about the movie is you know that I even felt we get to kind of experience and see all of these uh stories about Reagan from his childhood you know through his movie career radio and and uh as governor and in the Screen Actors Guild as president and and you know then his first failed attempt to to become president in 76 and then you know in 80 and it's so you get to be kind of a fly on the wall behind the scenes and I've almost forgotten your question because because of that but uh his faith uh did uh it started you at home uh you know I think particularly with his mother and particularly with the church that uh there in Dixon and it you know it stayed with him it it took root uh as a as a young boy and uh grew and strengthened throughout his life and uh to the point where he was able ble to to lead the nation I think because of because of that Faith you know Faith Roots you in principles and not just the where the wind blows about what is popular and I think that was the true strength of Reagan because he governed by principles not by popular opinion he seem to have an ability to stick to a point believe in it and not waver you know 197 6 I saw him speak down in Washington about the great evil of Communism in Russia and how we're going to defeat it and I thought to myself that's never gonna happen and then right you know it happens because this guy was determined he was he was definitely really was you know I did a a a movie in Germany called Enemy Mine and I was there for about eight months and you know and one of my questions I I went to while I was doing it I went to Berlin and went across to to East East Berlin where looked like World War II it ended just yesterday that's what it was back this was 1980 uh 82 I think and um it was you know what that was like at the way people lived and uh the taxi driver I had he said you know I was American and he was he was go Reagan he was like that in East Berlin in 1982 and um it people there thought I asked them you they never thought the Berlin Wall would come down ever that was you know permanent and Reagan didn't believe that and uh had a plan and was able to he was that was the thing Central to his presidency is that he won the Cold War yes yeah Mr gorbachov teared down this wall and then he made it happen now other aspects of of the man's nature we had on a couple weeks ago Patty Davis his his daughter and happily she and her book has come to peace with her parents but yeah I mention I talked with Patty I've met Patty and talked with her a couple of times I think once since uh I I you know got the job of Reagan and I talked to Mike but Patty has come to peace uh with her parents you know I think and Reagan was you know when Reagan was President he was he was like everybody's Dad yeah in a way you know for for my boomer generation and and that that meant for Better or For Worse for I think for for some people uh you know those that were against him he was like the bad dad in a sense he was he was definitely uh you know he was called a warmonger he's going to get us into a nuclear war he's he doesn't uh you know um but he proved them wrong it was it was about it was about being strong and it took a cold warrior somebody who would say no and mean it to get the Soviets to come to the table for real and not just take advantage of us yeah that idea of uh that you can make more progress through strength he's the embodiment of that um we had two two weeks ago Dan Lauria on who plays tippo in the movie and talked about one scene in particular and I mentioned the scene because it's just so beyond imagination for now so the speaker it's almost like the Berlin Wall isn't it see you can't imagine that happening today I can't that the speaker o' comes to the hospital and pray yeah they pray together he was he was like the first visitor besides Nancy wow you know that he that he came there you know bitter enemies uh you know when it comes to legislation and their agendas uh politically but you know after they at they had set that up at the beginning that you know after five o'clock they were just a couple of Irishmen and uh they would actually get together you know more than that was than what was required at the White House and talk it over you know sort of off the Record about uh you know without all the public politics that they have to posture for and um you know that's I that was how a lot of things got done uh in the Reagan administration because he you know he had a democratic uh uh he had a democratic uh Congress there for a while that's right yeah yeah and it was they got together there they prayed uh Lord's Prayer not the Lord's Prayer it was you know uh it was a Psalm oh and as a prayer and um it uh you know that's you can't I can't imagine that happening today I no looking for I'm always kind of looking for a little opening about where it can happen right right and it still can it can if people can develop some Reagan personality um you know I wanted to ask you to where I was uh in the post office Department picking up some stamps and I said show me you know the stamps that aren't just the American flag ones and he showed me what he had left and he had tons of Nancy Reagan stamps and I said when did this come out he said oh a couple years ago I said why do you have so many left he said she's a hard cell he said he said everybody loved Ronan but not so much the wife and how do you how do you end up portraying Nancy who was his his Rock in so many ways but not an easy woman to love that's very interesting uh you say that because um yeah she took a lot she took a lot of heat uh um you know sometimes you invited it I must say and sometimes you know it's just uh she was maybe the victim of it or you know because of the place that she was at but she loved Ronnie and that is uh Central to our to our story because without Nancy there never would have been a President Reagan wow their love story is so Central to his life story and uh he drew strength from her they were so in love I mean he wrote her a love note every day of his life even with the assassination attempt and you know he he drew his strength from her and uh and for you know as well as from God but she was like number two and uh he uh it's a love story that I think people can finally see uh from their point of view and because you know you really never know what's in a marriage but it's nice to kind of peek behind the curtain here and see what their relationship was really like and where it started Dennis a lot of couples that I marry you know they talk about they want a spouse who will always have my back and if I had to think of an example of one where she always had his back it would be Ron rigan you know uh she he was there for him always listen switching it to you for a second and this is kind of a question I had asked dere Jet and I I wondered it more when I read your biography too so whether people know or not Dennis Quaid not only is a great actor who's done so many movies and television and everything else but he's also a songwriter he's a composer and a singer and he has many many talents when you step back and you take a look at your life and the many gifts you've been given I gotta ask you because you're you're a man of Faith too why would God choose Dennis Quaid to give all those gifts to Bo I'm trying to figure out that I I've given up trying to figure that out I uh you know um I certainly don't deserve them that's for sure you know uh we're all Sinners but I I I think it's by Grace or whatever but um I I I always seek God I I always come back I always SE seek God and I find my joy of life in the Lord I really do yeah and I think that's what that personal relationship is all about about that uh I've come to know a personal relationship with Jesus that's that's so good Dennis and you know I think the first time I would have seen you on screen was in breaking away so obviously I'm dating myself and all of us but and you and I were both young back then but I mention it because Dennis last week I was 30 years old and now I'm 70 so I gotta ask I know it was a week goes by really fast doesn't it what happened I'm asking you do you how do you put in perspective especially when you've lived a dynamic life as you have the whole necessary process because the alternative is to check out the necessary process of Aging with Grace which I think is what Ronald Reagan did yes yes he did well I know I like Ronald Reagan one couple things we have is in common is we have a sunny disposition we're both actors uh we both don't dye our hair uh uh yes he did age uh with Grace you know he was in really good shape always stayed that way yeah I saw him uh I never met Reagan but I was at La Country Club one time and he was on the next Fairway this was after he was president and he could I mean walk the entire thing five miles you know that's what what a golf course is and he could really hit the ball so clearing brush on his Ranch those weren't setup pictures he was actually doing it in fact that's what I was when I was offered Reagan it I I I had the kind of fear up my spine I didn't feel worthy number one because he was my hero also I didn't want to do like a love letter about him and you know everybody in the world knows what Reagan looks like and and stuff and even though I'm an actor and I have a sunny disos like him I didn't see a weight in to the public Reagan is right there but the the private Reagan is is is kind of almost seemed impenetrable to me and I went uh so I did say yes for a while and then they invited me to the the Western White House what you know the Reagan Ranch that he'd had before he was president and was you know that's that same place where the queen went to visit him and you know where all the chopping and wood and all that stuff you go up five miles of the worst Road in California and to the top there and I came through the gate on the top the mountain and I that's when I got Reagan he was a humble man you can feel it in that place because everything there is was done by him you know the work that you know like the little Pond the fences uh the fields the way they were mowed and the house itself was 1100 square F feet if that this is the Western White House I didn't they had they had a a king-size bed but it was two single beds that were zip tied together the friends had gotten together and bought that bought it to you know to just to keep it in perpetuity and it's not a public place where people can visit and they kept it just like Nancy and and Ron left 30 minutes ago their clothes are in the closet it's it's uh you know they have like three remote controls to operate the television a note from Nancy on how to do it and it's it's you could just feel the the humbleness of of him and he was not a rich man as I think everybody thought yeah and um it it that that's when I said yes to him because I could feel him there in addition to Dennis's wonderful performance is Reagan another great hero of mine in acting is John voy John voy is Al in this movie I love John not only as an actor but also for the courage of his convictions he is who he is and he's putting it out there what is the role that John voyd plays in this movie He plays uh he plays a Soviet uh Soviet spy or intelligence officer intelligence gatherer who uh in fact it's true the Soviet Union kept tabs on on a lot of people and they probably started with Reagan uh I would imagine about the you know the time that he be uh became the vice president and then president of the Screen Actors Guild during that because it's that's kind of political and uh it was after World War to and yes they they kept files on him H and the Soviet Union uh was trying to infiltrate the unions especially in uh in media and in Show business uh to uh you know affect uh to affect American in our in our ideology and you know back then it was like oh well that is like conspiracy theory or whatever but when the Soviet Union fell uh you know those files started to come come out and yeah they were there trying to a affect policy isn't that sound so they saw what we didn't even see back then the potential leadership of the man and but John plays the plays the role so well it's it was a man who was assigned to him specifically uh and throughout and so it's an interesting way into the story to tell the story from Reagan's story from the Viewpoint of a KGB officer okay who had followed his entire life at and watches as as Reagan takes apart the Soviet Union that's amazing now I want to ask you too it's a broader question I promise I won't go too much longer but I need to ask you um when we talk about this this man who was loved by so many respected by so many and then you and I look at our own time uh so many of the people I talk to are discouraged I remember years ago I interviewed Frank kaer and kaer I love many reasons but yeah me too it's a wonderful life being the best and in that opening scene of its wonderful life where you know what's wrong with George Bailey is he's sick no worse than that he's discouraged I find not just in America but around the world so many people are discouraged um we ever going to be united we ever going to be able to work together uh Dennis Quid both as actor and man are you a person of Hope yes sir I am and I that movie still gets me every time I say it but you know he is a person of Hope and our nation has been through uh several eras like this you know uh where there does seem no hope we we do get disc discouraged we feel like We're a nation in Decline where it was as it was and um but I do believe just like in that movie you know uh in the end that basket that got filled up he was about to commit suicide contemplating and and uh because of that money that was stolen by old man Potter but people every every everybody everybody stepped in with faith and made whole what was lost and that's those people that stepped in to me represent the American people because when it comes down to it and those times when it really matters the American people have always stepped up and and and been United and this has happened over and over again like a cycle in a country it's it's part of life cycle God cycle and it it's a test but I think the American people are up to that test you know when Frank kaer came to our College to speak we showed the film obviously but uh an audience member got up and said there's one part of this movie I don't like it seems unjust that Mr Potter gets away with it he doesn't have to face Justice for what he did right and C said there's no real way to punish Mr Potter so the worst way to punish Mr Potter is to just realize he's Mr Potter right you know Mr Potter and Mr Potter has lost his hold yeah you're right the people overcome that you know that I never thought before of those people at the end you should old acquaintance be forgotten as being all Americans who come at the right moment to to be rescuing us then final question I promise but just tell me this um aside from obviously the movie Reagan which I and I hope everybody listening and watching will go to see you also have put together a beautiful gospel album and uh very revelatory because it talks about your soul and your struggles how do you create that well I uh I'd written a few songs but be before the record and uh I also wrote songs uh as I went because I wanted to make it personal I the there five uh the half the songs are songs that I grew up with in the Baptist Church uh you know hymns that I remember like my mother's favorite hymn my favorite hymn and um songs that resonated with me through you know throughout my life and then uh I wrote the other half of the songs and it I didn't know it at the time but it my wife put put the order together it turns out it's really kind of a story of my own spiritual journey throughout my life and it's personal and I called it uh Fallen which is the title song H Fallen uh gospel record for Sinners because I wanted the largest possible audience I can we're all there we're all there lat salesmanship I guess on that part but uh it's uh it's I'm very proud of it I came back came out uh last uh October I think end was it was number one when it came came out uh wow you know DVD sales on Amazon I actually uh uh you passed a couple of people there that were number one so good for Denis good in addition to his wonderful singing of course he has a great film called Reagan we're going to play a little clip from that film to your life there's nothing in retired Governor can do but a president now he can do a thing or two everybody wants to world I will be frank with you that as a citizen I would not like to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its ideology because I still believe Mr chairman that democracy can handle it my my listeners and viewers who are you hoping the audience will be for this movie Dennis uh I I I think everybody okay uh in a sense that everybody born let's say everybody born after 1985 yeah will look at this movie and and uh see what this country could be yeah and it's a great story and I hope first it entertains not to educate people that it entertains people because it's very interesting story but that they will see what this country could be and those that were born before 1985 will be able to to look back and and remember how what we can all do as a nation when we when we unite and that's what rean did great communicator United and he would give credit to the American people and Dennis just for our listeners and viewers one more time how do they get tickets get tickets by going to reagan. movie uh the group sales if you know for your church or your office or if are have been on sale for a couple of weeks but now the individuals or couples or whatever you can buy uh buy tickets right now and reserve a seat at reagan. mov reagan. go to reagan. movie and you're set okay Dennis qu thank you for being a guest and personally speaking you're a wonderful man and I've been following your career my whole life and I just not only love your acting but I love the honesty and uh when people are flawed in any way people try their best to you know hide of the way and you don't you're so honest and direct and and human well I used to be one of those people really try to hide it away and you know that just really doesn't work doesn't work no it really does it it's it's about the more you the more you uh open up about it the you know the Freer you are really yes that's what Jesus Promised and that's really is the way it is and for the rest of us who struggle when a guy like Dennis Quade says I've been broken and and I've been saved it's it's a great sign of Hope an invitation to all of us Dennis qu wonderful man thank you good luck to the movie we'll we'll be there many times God bless you thank you sir thank you have a great day you too thanks for being with us and personally speaking if you need to reach me you can do that at personally speaking podcast gmail.com uh you've been probably listening to this show on the Catholic channel at29 on SiriusXM we also a scene on YouTube search on personally speaking with mananti in addition to acting is host and executive producer personally speaking I'm also the pastor of our Lady LS church and mass of people at Park New York where we post daily mass on YouTube so please join us at mass as well as on our interview program personally speaking please share and let others know about personally speaking our producer is Lisa jandovitz thanks so much for joining us we'll be with you again next time on personally speaking