Patti Davis, daughter of President Reagan, lambasted Will Ferrell for his willingness to portray her late father in a comedy movie that focuses on the dementia of his final years.
“Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia. Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous,” Davis wrote in a blog post.
Ferrell, known for goofy roles in “Anchorman” and “Saturday Night Live,” will also help produce Mike Rosolio’s “Reagan” film, which shares the story of an intern who must convince the 40th president he is playing a leader for a movie.
Davis, 63, said there’s nothing funny about Alzheimer’s or the years in which Reagan suffered from it.
“I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, ‘I don’t know where I am,” Davis added. “I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away.”
