Dennis Quaid hopes he won’t be in “Dutch” with fans of Ronald Reagan when he portrays the former president on-screen later this year.
Quaid shared his challenges in accepting and portraying the role during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, explaining that it was an “honor” to channel the Californian.
“I admired him so much, and so I had a chill of fear go down my spine when I was offered it,” he said, adding that he “didn’t understand” why he was offered the part.
Producer Mark Joseph disagreed, arguing that Quaid was perfect for the role.
“He already has the look, and then he just had that smile and that optimism, the kind of things you can’t make up for with hair and makeup,” Joseph said. “Honestly, if you had magically told me you could have any actor you want in Hollywood or Dennis Quaid, I literally would have chosen Dennis Quaid.”
Directed by Sean McNamara and adapted from The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism by Paul Kengor, Reagan is acutely aware of the unique political moment in which it is being released. Reagan, a revered figure in the modern Republican Party, is being celebrated in an era in which Democrats control all the elected branches of federal government.
Amid this heightened polarization, Joseph stressed that the film doesn’t attempt to be partisan, instead striving to tell the story of a character.
“The way the film is set up, it’s not “Democrats are good, Republicans are bad” or vice versa,” he said. “It’s really about a man and the challenges he faces, the people that helped him become who he becomes, the good and the bad. A story about a perfect person isn’t very interesting, but a story about a man who’s flawed, just like all of us, is always interesting.”
Reagan is scheduled for theatrical release later this year. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and MJM Entertainment Group, the production company bringing Reagan to the screen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
