Interview: Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller on Playing Ronald and Nancy Reagan in New Biopic

ComingSoon Senior Movie News Editor Brandon Schreur interviewed Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller about starring in the new biopic movie Reagan. Quaid and Miller discussed playing Ronald and Nancy Reagan, riding horses, and more.

”From dusty small-town roots, to the glitter of Hollywood, and then on to commanding the world stage, Reagan is a cinematic journey of overcoming the odds,” the synopsis for the movie reads. “Told through the voice of Viktor Petrovich, a former KGB agent who followed Reagan’s ascent, Reagan captures the indomitable spirit of the American dream.”

Reagan releases in United States theaters on August 30, 2024.

Brandon Schreur: You’re both playing very well-known historical figures in American history in this movie. Everyone knows who Ronald Reagan is. Was there any kind of hesitation in taking on those roles?

Dennis Quaid: Yeah. Yeah, there was because, like you said, everyone knows him. He’s like Muhammad Ali, everybody in the world knows what he looks like, acts like, and sounds like. It’s kind of daunting. I didn’t want to do a Saturday Night Live impersonation of him, either. I wanted to play a real person and play him from his point of view. Getting into the public face and figure, but also getting down to how he might have felt inside about things along with the vulnerabilities and insecurities that we all have in life and go through. Things we overcome.

It took a while to get there. Going to the Reagan Ranch is really what made my decision because I could feel him there. He really did do all the work there. He was not a rich man, which I really came to find out. Their house was, what, 1,100 square feet?

Penelope Ann Miller: Tiny. I couldn’t believe wanted Nancy to go there.

Quaid: He had a king-size bed, but it was actually two twin beds zip-tied together. Their clothes are in the closet, we slept just like it was.

Miller: That was his sort of, what one would call his safe space. I think that’s where he felt the most himself was at that ranch with the horses, building the fences. Nancy would go there because he loved it so much. She learned how to ride because he loved to ride. All of those things. That’s kind of the beauty of the movie, to me, was seeing what made him the man he became and what were his beginnings.

Quaid: She was devoted to him, too, because I don’t think the ranch was really her kind of place, naturally.

Miller: No. I think she’d rather have lunch with Betsy Bloomingdale.

Quaid: Yeah. And be in Beverly Hills.

Miller: But her love of him was so great, which is a great thing you see in the movie and what we learned when we did our research. They had an incredible love story. He appreciated her so immensely, especially after his first failed marriage. He wrote her love notes every day. They had a beautiful love story and I think that’s what made him the man he was, too. When he became president, Nancy was there.

Sure. I think that really comes across in the movie in an interesting and profound kind of way, too. Speaking of riding, Dennis, there are a bunch of scenes in the movie where you are riding on horses. That’s actually you doing it?

Quaid: I think that’s my butt in the saddle, yeah. Pretty sure.

Miller: He can ride a horse.

Quaid: I can ride a horse. I learned how to ride a horse as a kid and then I refined it in the movies. Yeah, for sure. Reagan, they say he rode English. Everybody thinks he rode Western but he really rode English. But it wasn’t really English. He really wanted to be a cavalry officer as a young man. That’s the way he learned to ride. So, much like the seventh cavalry in a charge.

Oh, interesting. I didn’t know that. Penelope, you have a bunch of really emotional scenes in the movie. One of them that comes to mind is when you rush to the hospital after the assassination attempt and you’re going through a lot. What was that like?

Quaid: That’s what’s great about this movie, you get to behind-the-scenes and be a fly on the wall to all that stuff you wanted to see when the news coverage was going on. I was fascinated by it.

Miller: It was so shortly after he won the presidency and they had just been newly into the White House. I think it had been barely a year, right? To have that happen to him, one can only imagine the fear that runs through anyone. I’m sure the masses as well as Nancy, his wife, [almost] losing the love of her life. That scene that you talk about, it is such a beautiful scene because she feels guilty that she wasn’t there by his side. They were always together. She said, ‘I always walk on your left’ and he’s like, ‘But then you would have been shot at.’ It just, to me, shows how incredibly devoted they were to one another. Even just seeing her feeling guilty that she wasn’t there for him at this horrible moment, but he made it. Anyway, thank you for bringing that up. I think that’s the beauty of this film, that love story.

Brandon Schreur

Brandon Schreur has been writing about comics, movies, television shows, and all things pop culture for roughly five years. He's a lifelong cinephile who spends way, way too much money buying Blu-rays and trade paperbacks. You can find him on twitter at @brandonschreur.