I know that you were waiting with bated breath to find out who would play Ronald Reagan in the upcoming (and cleverly titled) Reagan, so I shall keep you in suspense no longer. Ronald Reagan will be played by…David Henrie!
Who is David Henrie, you ask? I am not really sure, but some of the younger crowd among us might know. Henrie is a Disney star, apparently, renowned for his roles on Wizards of Waverly Place and That’s So Raven. The slightly older members of the TV-going community might know him from How I Met Your Mother, on which he played the role of the son. Now he’s going to take on the part of a young Ronnie Reagan, back when he was a bad actor and stern anti-communist.
Reagan will be told from the perspective of a KGB agent keeping tabs on our man Ronald in the heyday of his acting career, when he was the president not of the country but of the Screen Actor’s Guild. I guess that the KGB thought that Ronald was a major threat to Russia or something. Perhaps they had seen his films Bedtime for Bonzo or Knute Rockne All American; those both could be considered acts of war.
Reagan is actually a $25 million indie film scripted by Space Cowboys screenwriter Howard Klausner, based on two different biographies by Paul Kengor. Lead Henrie has been quoted as saying that the project is “a universal film with universal values.” I have no doubt – it’s also probably a cut above Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, which Henrie is also appearing in.
We will let you know more information about Reagan as it becomes available. Until then, I suggest checking out some of Ronnie’s films, just to see where the man who eventually became President started out his venerable career.