New Movie 'Reagan': Nashville Red Carpet Premiere with Dennis Quaid, Mark Joseph

what what does it take to prepare for a role like this I can't even imagine I basically I had a year to prepare and uh I basically just talked like rean uh around the house my poor kids my wife deliver that for a long time and because I just wanted to learn it and forget it you know but more importantly was about uh doing it Beyond impersonation you know and get to VI being behind the public Persona what would you see as the big message in the film for you character ethics truth and and he was such a quiet man and and held such a big stick um and I I think that we I've never seen I'm 76 years old and I have never seen this country in such Dire Straits as we are right now and I just want to say the most important thing is to vote and and the the effect that the family can have to make the making of a president uh a good man with his foundation in the word of God makes a great president I think that's that we all have a purpose in life that uh whatever you are whoever you are whatever you're doing that there's something you're supposed to do before you leave the planet and it's hard to find that in Reagan's case he doesn't find it until he's 69 years old so that gives the rest of us hope that we can we can find it at some point in our lives the thing that you were put here to do as mother says I think it's a wonderful educational opportunity for young people to get involved in exactly what's going on in our country today and I think no better opportunity than coming to a movie premiere like this seeing young people on the red carpet seeing young people attending the movie and really promoting it I think that this is once again an educational opportunity for our young people to really get involved and voice their own opinions historical movies right now are really important especially ones that do illustrate the massive issues with socialism and the way that countries can fall into it so easily and the way that Ronald Reagan had to fight for it all those years ago and peace through strength is a foreign policy assessment and I think that we can do that again now Reagan found a way to take ideals and and principles that are very important to conservatives and mainstream them while the left wouldn't give him credit for mainstreaming mainstreaming them the proof is in the pudding two terms as president followed by as vice president having a single term eight years later his vice president's son served two terms that's an that's an unbelievable political Legacy that should give hope to all conserv to see the film we joke that the movie took so long to make but really the timing I think is perfect because we're we're living in a moment where there's a great deal of confusion in the political order Not Just Between the left and the right but but within the right and so what I I want to see is a story of a man uh who transformed and and really rejuvenated American politics at a time when we thought we were in an never-ending National malays and we we might feel like we're in that moment right now there a lot of parallels between the ' 80s and today and so uh what I'm looking for is an important political virtue happens to be a theological virtue which is a little bit of Hope definitely especially for my generation for sure I feel like we could take away a lot from this movie but it's it's truly enlightening um and I and I hope hope it kind of just instills hope and just some motivation to to to make some changes President Reagan was a great communicator and I think that every body could learn something the way he got along with his business and communicate his ideas to the American public it's very much like being the music bu tell me a little bit about the role you play in this film I played James Baker who basically campaigned against Reagan until Reagan won and then Reagan saw the value in him and made him chief of staff and uh James Baker was a a really great negotiator a great Navigator of the political seas and it was a very a big challenge for me to play him because he was a moderate I'm not a moderate you know I'm really excited to see a bunch of our greatest actors tell the story of one of our most iconic presiden do you see a message in the film I do I think um you know I really appreciate I think it's this movie is so good so that you know all of our Americans especially you know people of my age get to realize how good um Reagan was and to appreciate that and to think about it so I think uh it do definitely does have a meaning and I really I'm a true American so I really appreciate get to represent and what what do you hope will happen with this screening it seems uh uh I guess the the timing seems uh particularly poignant right now I think it does too because so many people are talking about how do we preserve our freedoms and Liberty how do we make certain that people appreciate that this is the land of opportunity and preserving access to that American Dream dream and I'm like a lot of moms and Grand moms I want my kids and grandkids to dream those big dreams and it's up to us to give them the opportunity to make them come true it really is a very special film and I think people this generation a lot of kids from the first screening I saw they were going I never knew that I never knew that that seems like that's happening now so it's it's informative but it's dramatically it's so emotional and Quaid he's to win an Academy Award for this thing it's a good time I think for the message of this movie I would say in our test audiences people respond the most to Reagan and tip O'Neal uh getting along being functional functioning government um he visits him in the hospital after he shot they have some words people really react to that the most so I think there's a yearning for that in the country you don't have to agree but at least do your jobs and get along well there's that line right after 6:00 p.m. we're bud I forget exactly how it goes yeah that's the one people are yearning for that again I think that's that's not impossible we should be able to Aspire to that I was hired to write the first draft in 2010 so I've been on this one for 14 years and it has gone through generation after generation our our times have literally changed within the time obviously from think about 2010 to now so how you attack a story even a historical story it must have a sort of reflection to its time and so that that was a big part of it I think more than anything else it was just and it was a Band of Brothers we all had the things we wanted my original my original draft was 22 Pages can't do that in a feature film so I've it's been hard to choose well we can't do that but let's try this so it's been a labor of love for sure you put together an unbelievable film I just wanted to tell you that thank you so much well tonight's been a huge celebration but it's really a celebration for Music City not only being executive producers but producing all the music in the film I mean with Clint Black Alice Cooper Jean Simmons Travis trit Alabama so it's a Nashville celebration music music city celebration We Were cast as the band for the scene and then we found out which song we would be performing on camera so we went ahead and recorded our own version and the movie liked their version and licensed it so pretty cool yeah fantastic opportunity and turn it into a big one to me the message of the film is is really how to interact with people and he brought it to uh a global Arena and how you know start conversation this is how we solve problems rather than being devices and angry that starts Wars so I think a big part of this film is teaching people how to have conversations talk and and and hash things out I kind of feel I was probably destined to play this role looking back you know uh it's I I really had a streak of fear go up my spine when I was offered it because I felt unworthy and and also afid because you know everybody has an opinion on rean he's one of the most famous people recognizable in the world but uh that fear is usually a sign that I should do that cuz it takes me out of my comfort zone and uh that's what God does too you know uh you got to be careful what you ask God for because he just might give it to you cuz he usually gives it to you in a way where you go oh no I didn't mean that no but that's such a fantastic message to to be sharing with people I mean you yourself right now you when you feel the fear that means you should do something yeah fear is actually a really great motivator Mr gerov tear down this wall to the world