Dennis Quaid on how he prepared for title role in 'Reagan'

>>> WELCOME BACK. WHEN IT COMES TO PORTRAYING A PRESIDENT ON SCREEN, REAL OR FICTITIOUS, AN ACTOR NEEDS GRAVITAS, NEEDS CHARM, NEEDS ONE HECK OF A SMILE. DENNIS QUAID CHECKS ALL OF THOSE BOXES IN HIS NEW FILM, "REAGAN." AND YOU CAN'T HAVE A MOVIE ABOUT THE POPULAR PRESIDENT WITHOUT NANCY. NANCY REAGAN IS BEING PLAYED BY PENELOPE ANN MILLER BY HIS SIDE, INCLUDING IN THE WAKE OF AN ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE. TAKE A LOOK. >> I DON'T DO SO GOOD WITHOUT YOU. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. I ALWAYS WALK ON YOUR LEFT SIDE. >> NO, NO. NO, THEN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN YOU. >> AH, DENNIS QUAID, GOOD MORNING TO YOU. >> GOOD MORNING. >> GOOD MORNING, PEACHES. WE'LL TALK TO YOU IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS. I GOT TO CATCH THE FILM LAST NIGHT, AND YOU NAILED THE AFFECT. IT DOESN'T HURT THAT YOU KIND OF LOOK LIKE RONALD REAGAN AS WELL. BUT I READ THAT YOU WERE INITIALLY RELUCTANT TO EVEN TAKE ON THE ROLE? >> YES, I WAS. HE WAS MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT AND REAGAN IS LIKE MOHAMMAD ALI. YOU SHOW A PICTURE OF HIM TO ANYONE IN THE WORLD, THEY'RE GOING TO SAY, THAT'S REAGAN. AND I DIDN'T WANT TO DO AN IMPERSONATION. I WANTED TO GET TO THE HUMAN BEING BEHIND THE PUBLIC PERSONA. AND SO I WENT UP, GOT INVITED TO THE REAGAN RANCH, WHICH IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. HIS FRIENDS BOUGHT IT AFTER HIS PASSING, THEY LEFT IT EXACTLY AS IT WAS. THEIR CLOTHES ARE STILL IN THE CLOSET, IN FACT. AND COMING THROUGH THE GATES, I COULD FEEL HIM THERE. I MEAN, THE HOUSE THEY HAD, IT WAS 1,100 SQUARE FEET, BARELY YOU KNOW, A TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT. AND THEY HAD A KING-SIZED BED, BUT IT WAS TWO SINGLE BEDS ZIP TIED TOGETHER. REAGAN WAS NOT A RICH MAN, I REALIZE. HE WAS A VERY HUMBLE MAN. AND THAT'S WHAT LED ME INTO IT. >> I THINK WE'VE GOT A SIDE BY SIDE OF YOU AND THE LATE PRESIDENT, AS WELL, BECAUSE I WANT TO SHOW, AGAIN, YOU REALLY CAPTURED THE LIKENESS. WHAT ABOUT THE VOICE, DENNIS. HOW DID YOU NAIL THAT? WERE YOU WALKING AROUND THE HOUSE -- >> I HAD TWO YEARS TO PREPARE, BASICALLY. YEAH, MY POOR KIDS LIVED WITH RONALD REAGAN AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF HIS LIFE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. BUT I WANTED TO LEARN IT AND FORGET IT. YOUTUBE IS FANTASTIC AS FAR AS A SOURCE FOR THAT. BUT I JUST WANTED TO FORGET IT SO WE COULD DO THESE SCENES. AND THEN I HAD PENELOPE ANN MILLER PLAYING NANCY AND SHE'S SO GOOD -- SHE JUST WAS NANCY, EVEN IN THE LUNCH LINE. >> AS YOU SAID, SHE WAS IN CHARACTER AS WELL FOR MOST OF THE FILMING. EVEN WHEN SHE WAS NOT ACTUALLY BEING FILMED. >> YEAH, SHE'S SUCH AN INCREDIBLE ACTRESS. AND AT THE CORE, THE MOVIE IS A LOVE STORY OF RON AND NANCY AND THEIR MARRIAGE OVER FIVE, SIX DECADES. AND THERE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PRESIDENT REAGAN WITHOUT NANCY. >> AND IT'S ALSO TOLD THROUGH -- NOT TO GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH, BUT IT'S TOLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A FORMER KGB SPY WHO'S PLAYED BY JON VOIGHT, AS WELL. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE INTERESTING TIMES, POLITICALLY, IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES. WAS THERE ANY RELUCTANCE TO DO A MOVIE LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW? AND THEN TO RELEASE THAT MOVIE JUST A FEW WEEKS BEFORE WHAT'S GOING TO BE A HOTLY CONTESTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? >> NO, WE MADE IT DURING COVID, IT WAS 2020. AND WE MEANT TO COME OUT IN '22. I HAD ONE CAVEAT, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DID NOT COME OUT IN AN ELECTION YEAR, BECAUSE I JUST DIDN'T WANT IT TO GET LOST IN THE MELEE, BUT HERE IT IS, COME OUT IN AN ELECTION YEAR, AND THE RESPONSE TO IT HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE. AND SO I HAVE TO SAY, WHAT DO I KNOW? >> YEAH. >> AND WE HAVE HAD SOME BUMPS IN THE ROAD. THINGS LIKE FACEBOOK HAS BEEN, FOR SOME REASON BANNING AND CENSORING OUR ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION ON IT. AND -- WHICH IS VERY INTERESTING, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY SAID WE WERE TRYING TO INFLUENCE AN ELECTION. I THINK BANNING IS TRYING -- BANNING IT IS TRYING TO INFLUENCE AN ELECTION. >> I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT THAT, FULL DISCLOSURE, I KNOW A FEW MONTHS AGO, YOU ENDORSED DONALD TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT. WAS THERE A HOPE THAT THIS FILM MIGHT INFLUENCE THE ELECTION -- >> OH, ABSOLUTELY NOT. LIKE I SAID, WE WANTED TO COME OUT IN '22. AND YOU KNOW, IT'S A BIOGRAPHICAL PIC OF RONALD REAGAN, WHO WAS A DEMOCRAT FOR, YOU KNOW, HALF OF HIS LIFE, TOO, BY THE WAY. YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE POLITICAL AT ALL. IN FACT, WE WERE TRYING TO KIND OF RISE ABOVE THAT, BACK TO A TIME WHEN REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TALKED TO EACH OTHER, YOU HAD LIBERAL REPUBLICANS, CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS, TIP O'NEIL AND RONALD REAGAN HAD A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP, GO A LOT DONE IN A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS, A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. >> BEFORE WE GO, WE SHOULD PROBABLY EXPLAIN TO FOCUS AT HOME, THIS ADORABLE PUP ON THE FLOOR HERE IN STUDIO 1A. THIS IS PEACHES. >> THAT'S PEACHES. SHE IS THE ONLY NON-HISTORICAL FACT IN THE REAGAN MOVIE. SHE PLAYS THE FAMILY DOG. >> OH, WAIT A MINUTE! >> THEY DID NOT -- >> THAT'S RIGHT! I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT. >> THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE MINIATURE ENGLISH BULLDOGS BACK THEN. >> PEACHES, I SAW YOU LAST NIGHT IN THE FILM. >> YOU'RE OUTED, PEACHES. >> I'VE NEVER SEEN A MORE CHILL BULLDOG THAN THAT. DENNIS, DON'T GO FAR. WE'LL TALK WITH YOU A