Michael Reagan on His Father’s Faith, Wit, New Biopic

Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan, is praising the new biopic “Reagan,” directed by Sean McNamara and starring Dennis Quaid and Jon Voight, for its accurate portrayal of his father’s life and faith.

In a recent interview with Reel Faith, Reagan said the film captured the essence of the man he knew growing up.

“From my perspective, it was really dead on,” Reagan said.

Reagan, who was born in 1945, said he was alive for much of the period depicted in the movie, giving him a unique vantage point. He noted that many of the stories he had shared over the years with the filmmakers were incorporated into the script.

“They were able to connect dots in certain areas that I was the only one in the room with my father, him telling me a story, so I could share the story with them,” Reagan said. “They refer to me as ‘The Prequel,’ so that tells you something.”

The movie’s portrayal of Reagan’s deep Christian faith was also important to the former president’s son. Reagan recounted a story about a Good Friday flight in 1988, when his father expressed his eagerness to return to regular church attendance after leaving office.

“Ever since I looked out the rear window of my limousine in March of 1981 and saw people laying in their blood with bullets that were meant for me, I haven’t gone to church, if at all, on a regular basis, and I really miss being with my Lord and Savior on Sundays,” Reagan recalled his father telling him.

The elder Reagan’s humor and wit, which were often on display, were also captured well in the film, his son said. He shared an anecdote about his father’s lighthearted response just hours after being shot in the 1981 assassination attempt.

““He looks at me and says, ‘You know, Michael, yesterday I was shot. Don’t ever be wearing a new suit if you’re going to get shot. He said ‘That was a brand-new suit I was wearing yesterday and they cut that suit off of me, and the last time I saw I was in shreds in the corner of the hospital room. That’s why I tell you don’t wear a new suit if you’re going to get shot,'” Reagan recounted with a chuckle.

While Reagan has worked to preserve his father’s legacy over the years, he acknowledged the challenges of dealing with those who seek to misrepresent the former president. However, he said he tries to follow his father’s example of not reacting negatively.

“If you let it bother you, you’ll never let it stop bothering you. And we could learn a lot from my dad in today’s politics. Instead reacting negatively back, you gotta’ do that, ‘There they go again.’ We don’t do that. Instead, we get angry. We get mad,” Reagan said.

He pointed to a poignant scene in the movie where Reagan’s political rival, House Speaker Tip O’Neill, visits the president in the hospital and prays with him after the assassination attempt. “Sometimes the best way to handle it is not by yelling back in anger and calling names and what have you, but just get on with whatever your issues are. And dad did that, I think it’s one of the reasons he won 49 states in 1984,” Reagan said.

Overall, the former president’s son expressed his satisfaction with the film’s portrayal of his father, saying it has been a source of pride for his own children.

“For them to be able to go see the movie and see the storyline of the movie that they’ve heard about all of these years, but see it depicted in a in a motion picture, and walk out being so proud of their grandfather,” Reagan said.

“Reagan,” directed by Sean McNamara and starring Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, Mena Suvari, Kevin Dillon, David Henrie, and Jon Voight, is now available on digital download on all major digital retailer platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu, among others, through ShowBiz Direct.

For the full video interview, including more personal stories shared from Michael Reagan, watch the video below.

DEWAYNE HAMBY has covered faith-based music, movies, television, books, and the retail industry for more than 30 years. He is a film member of the Critics Choice Association and the author of the book Gratitude Adjustment. Connect with him at on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or InstaGram.