Actors Penelope Ann Miller & Dennis Quaid talk to The Inside Reel about perspective, approach and perception in regards to their new film: "Reagan" from Showbiz Direct.
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00:00I am about to start the biggest war of this century and I'm not going to fire a single
00:16shot.
00:17You're going to blow up eight years of diplomacy.
00:18Well, if you think that got their undies they don't want, you just wait.
00:22What did the president know and when did he know it?
00:25What would you have me do?
00:26I want you to fight.
00:33Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
00:45With this couple, I mean, they're a power couple, but they're also both people who supremely
00:51care about each other in terms of how they see the other progressing.
00:55Can you talk about sort of that support system that Nancy and Ronald had with each other?
01:00Well, the movie is really, you know, it is about Ronald Reagan's life from the time he
01:07was five years old and Dixon until they had Alzheimer's and said goodbye to the American
01:11people.
01:12But at its core, the movie is a love story and, you know, what a great relationship could
01:18do for both people.
01:21You know, it makes you, it brings out your best self.
01:27And they certainly did with each other.
01:29And they were best friends and totally devoted to each other.
01:35And it's a great relationship.
01:39I think, you know, Nancy was fiercely protective of Ronnie, she called him Ronnie.
01:45And she really supported him and believed in him.
01:50And I think that's what helped him catapult to this major political figure was because
01:57of that love and because of her support, which can be misinterpreted because she was sort
02:02of vilified during those White House years, she'd cry in her room by herself and had no
02:07idea that people would look at her badly, which was so weird to me.
02:11But, you know, I think there's, you know, and maybe this word's used a lot, but somewhat
02:16of a misogynistic viewpoint of a woman who's behind the man.
02:20And that's considered a bad thing.
02:22And in a way, and not that she was the puppet master or the policymaker, because she wasn't,
02:26but he trusted her.
02:28I think she was not only his best friend, but maybe kind of his only friend.
02:33And I think the same, I mean, you know, granted, Nancy had a lot of friends, but their friendship
02:38and their love was impenetrable.
02:40That's true, I didn't see this, that's for sure.
02:44There wouldn't have been a President Reagan without Nancy.
03:14Yes, it is.
03:44I know you called them the power couple, but I think, you know, there's things in the movie
04:03that we didn't know that we learned.
04:06And to me, I just think that's what's interesting to see when you watch the movie.
04:12You didn't make any decisions on policy or anything like that.
04:16But it was, you know, he trusted her, she protected him and a sounding board.
04:26Yeah.
04:27But it was also, there was also the humor, God continue, but it was also the humor that
04:31you see between the two.
04:33But even you, Dennis, like progressing from Hollywood all the way through, he has a consistency
04:39of just charm, humor, and he knows how to offset things still with an immense amount
04:45of strength, which you brought to the role.
04:47Yeah, well, he had all that, you know, he once even said himself that the greatest role
04:52he ever had was President of the United States.
04:56And that's true to a certain extent, because, you know, when a president really works best,
05:01it's almost as an ad man, it's almost as somebody who was out there representing the United
05:07States playing that role, you know, and to know how to play that role, and to play it
05:13with conviction and get your message across, you know, negotiating with the Soviets and,
05:21you know, that's like a poker game.
05:23There's some acting going on there.
05:25But even his speeches, if you look back on his speeches, he's so eloquent and charming.
05:30Nobody gave a speech like that.
05:33And that's the thing, I think having that actor experience, knowing how to speak to
05:37the public, knowing when to pause, knowing what your timing is, knowing when you're going
05:40to get a laugh, all that is, is really important.
05:44Not that he was, you know, acting like, surface, I think he believed in what his message, and
05:50I think he cared deeply about America.
05:54And Nancy, in turn, cared so much about him that she was willing to take the backseat.
05:59But I think her protective mechanism, because she was so fiercely protective, made her seem
06:04cold in the loop.
06:05And I didn't find that at all when I read her book and read many, many books and talked
06:09to people.
06:11But she didn't, she was willing to do that for him.
06:15And I think seeing that partnership was beautiful.
06:18That moment with the goldfish where you go over and write that letter, it's something
06:22so small, but it means so much in the greater concept of it, you know, so.
06:28And he used to write him love letters, he wrote them every day, so he was the letter
06:32guy.
06:33He'd take the time for, because it meant something.
06:37The small things, they mean, they add up to the whole.
06:45I was a lifeguard on a river, and I learned how to read the currents, not just the ones
06:57on the surface, but also the ones deep underneath the water.