Interview: Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller on Reagan

The Dennis Quaid-led biopic of Ronald Reagan is one of those movies I feel like I’ve been hearing about forever. While it’s been in the planning stages for years, it first really started to pick up steam in 2019 when director Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) signed on to helm the film, along with the great Dennis Quaid to play the famed 40th President of the United States.

Shot at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the film has spent a good chunk of time in post-production. I’ve been seeing posters of it at CinemaCon since 2021. Yet, the movie is now set for release, and star Dennis Quaid has been open about how pleased he is with the finished product, calling it his favorite movie of his own since The Right Stuff.

In the lead-up to the film’s release, we had the chance to sit and talk with Quaid and his co-star Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Nancy Reagan. Quaid has made no secret of the fact that he’s always looked up to Reagan and considered him his favorite president. In our chat, he discusses why he was very reluctant to take the role, and also didn’t want the movie to be pure hagiography, a sentiment which is echoed by Miller. In fact, she even reveals that her family actually knew the Reagans, making her casting in the film somewhat fated. Finally, I also told Quaid that, coincidently, I had just attended a screening of The Substance, which he co-stars in, before doing this interview. He seemed happy about the fact that two movies he seems genuinely excited about are coming out so close together.

Reagan, which co-stars Jon Voight, opens in theaters on August 30th.