Why We Go to the Movies | Dennis Quaid

There was something in Reagan that was unknowable, I come to find out, and even those that were close to him, uh, would say that. I don't even know if Reagan was aware of it, but there was something. The great communicator, there was a very private place in there that you could not breach. I'm sure that Nancy, uh, knew what that was, but he was a very, very private person underneath it all.

Yeah, well I wonder, you know, because of the remarkable role he played, there's something singular about that, right? That what would you say? Integrity and vision that enabled him to see the true nature of the Communist threat early, to fight that locally, and to learn how to do it, and then to take that battle onto the international stage, right? To make that the focal point of his presidency.

Yeah, even when it was really not the issue, right? Even most people were over here about that, he was. And that's what makes a great president, is when they can point out, because they have all the info, and they can say, "It's here that we need to go."

Yeah, and convince people that, you know, of what it is to go in the right direction, remind them of the principles, and, um, not just the issue of the day, right?

That's something to get folks, right? Exactly. Well, that's something like a prophetic spirit, right? That ability to see the current situation clearly, and to see into the future, and to put your finger exactly in the right spot.

And it isn't the case, generally speaking, that American presidencies are founded on, say, a foreign policy vision, right? That foreign policy is important, obviously, but it's usually not central. And it's much easier for a president to default to some fast payoff local issue and to do that continually, rather than to fight the battle he fought, which he really fought for decades, right? Literally for decades, he said no to the Soviets.

But his take was so brilliant, and it was disguised. And because his idea, and it wasn't originally his idea, it was, you know, it was, uh, from a lot of reading, research, and, uh, just time spent.

He thought the answer was to bankrupt the Soviets, right? Their economy is, uh, minuscule even today compared to what ours is. They had done so much military spending, and they were really, you know, things were so bad over there for the Soviet people. You lines just get food and this and that.

And that came, he comes up with Star Wars, which didn't really exist. He got the idea from the movie, you know, about lasers, you know, that are going to shoot down missiles in space. You know, it didn't exist. And Russians knew it didn't exist; at least 90% of them knew it didn't exist.

But it was that 10% that Reagan made them think about it. He didn't back off of it at all, yeah. And so, but it—that's a weird blend of f, yeah, that really tore them up, you know? And, uh, so they were on this military spending, and finally, they just, you know, it just toppled. That's really what brought the Soviet Union down.

Yeah, well that's a remarkable climax to a life spent that, you know, originated in local fighting with the Communists in unions in Hollywood.

Yeah, yeah, so how did you prepare to—like how much work did you do biographical work and so forth? I don't know exactly how you would prepare for.

Well, a lot of it, I, yeah, a lot of it I lived through. I lived through the times; that had a lot to do, and I was a history buff to begin with. So, like, you know, I remember the stuff. But I, uh, I watched YouTube, it was, uh, really great because you have all of those; you have everything, uh-huh. You can go back and, and, uh, and see, uh, and, you know, what do you get to.

I work outside in a lot, so I work on the, uh, physical—how's a person walk, talk? And then from that it goes inside, and I realize why that is. For instance, like, Reagan had like a crooked smile.

Yeah, right? It's like, yeah, oh yeah, kind of H like that. And there was, uh, and after you do that a while, you realize, well, why is that? And it's because that's why you look like him in the movie. Because, so, there’s got to be, there are some muscles that are deadened in his face, yeah, from what, uh, I don't know. But that’s, you know, that leads you to the inside of a person, of where they kind of problem.

And the way he walked, the way he, uh, the way a person grooms himself, the way they, you know, the image they put out. And then there's the—but really, when you get down to it, that's the outside, and you have all the news stories and stuff. But I talked to a lot of people who knew him personally, yeah.

And, um, yeah, and I think that's really where it formed. I didn't want to do an impersonation; that's the thing that scared me—anything of, you know, doing an impersonation. What's the difference?

Uh, because the—it's the fir that impersonation is an act, you know? It's like something you'd see on Saturday Night Live. The getting down to who the person is—the real person—is quite another thing. A personal side, it really humanizes them, yeah? Makes them singular.

And I, I like to, uh, want to get a part of a real person, of which I play many. I'd like to tell, uh, tell it their story from their point of view, yeah?

Yeah, you know, not—well, not from the outside about what we thought of them, and not for me to really—I try not to comment too much. I try to tell it from their point of view. What is it like? The question is, what if I, me, were this person in this situation, right?

Well, and that's also what you're transmitting to the audience, right? That opportunity. So what part of the reason that we go to see movies is because by watching the people on screen and by noting their characterization, we can adopt their aim.

And as soon as we adopt, like, our emotions orient themselves around aim. And so if you can embody a character, yeah, exactly. If you can, or if you can characterize a person's aims, then you can invite the audience to adopt their perspective, right?

And that means they can live being Reagan, for example, in the course of the movie. Why we go to the movies, absolutely.

And so way of—okay, so H—so how long did you play Reagan and what was the effect of that on you? Like, I'm, I'm curious, when you embody these characters so deeply, it has to, because you're really occupying a different perspective, it has to change you, I would presume.

Um, you know, I find myself, like, never really asking that question. Um, I—it's something to me, it's about learning about—it’s about learning about myself, yeah? I don't know how exactly how to sometimes articulate that, um, but—and I leave—I leave I have learned to just leave the character at the end of the day, at the end of the take.

In fact, just like, go do something else, right? Because I've already, it's kind of like osmosis—I have already done all the work, and now just let the, let the subconscious work, right?

Right, so you can leave it. See, that's one of the things that you learn as a therapist, is to—because you're listening to people and you're trying to adopt their perspective, but if you take that home with you, then you can’t manage it over time.

They have happened to me, you know? I learned that when I played Jerry Lee Lewis.

Oh, yeah? Well, tell me about that because I—I didn’t believe that, uh, yeah, to tell you the truth. And that was Great Balls of Fire.

Yeah, that was Great Balls of Fire, and so, you know, I wound up, at the end, about six months after, uh, it came out, or maybe a year, yeah, I was in rehab. [Music]