Nick Searcy fondly recalls the Reagan years and even worked on a documentary detailing the 40th president's bond with the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev.
He still learned plenty by co-starring in "Reagan," the late summer biopic of the conservative icon.
Dennis Quaid brings The Gipper to life in "Reagan," now available for purchase at Amazon, iTunes and more platforms. The sweeping biopic starts with Ronald Reagan's early days and goes through his consequential White House years.
Searcy plays James Baker in the film, Reagan's Chief of Staff and, later, his Treasury Secretary. The "Justified" alum did his due diligence before stepping on the set, watching as many clips of Baker's public appearances from that era.
Searcy learned why Reagan chose Baker in the first place. Baker had opposed Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign, aligning with his future vice president, George H. W. Bush.
"Reagan saw him as being such a good negotiator and diplomat," Searcy says, noting his differences with his on-screen character. "I'm a bit more of an ideologue than he was," he adds with a chuckle.
The actor didn't know as much about Reagan's life before becoming the country's 40th president. "Reagan" fills in those blanks, from his transition from Hollywood to politics to his days as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
The leader's political ascent is the film's focus, but "Reagan" is as much a love story as a look at one of the country's most formidable politicians (Consider the term "Reagan Democrats" as just one example of his impact).
Penelope Ann Miller stands by Quaid's side as Nancy Reagan, part of a Beltway power couple that changed the course of history.
You might not grasp Reagan's role in the Cold War's demise and "Morning in America" if you followed the Hollywood narrative, the actor maintains.
Searcy says the industry's take on Reagan has been "mostly negative," including a controversial 2003 Showtime miniseries blasted by the president's defenders for several key scenes. One sequence causes sizable outcry - James Brolin's Reagan says of gay AIDS sufferers, "They that live in sin shall die in sin."
Reagan never uttered such a dehumanizing phrase.
"Reagan," Searcy says, "corrects the image of Reagan that the Hollywood Left was perpetrating," that of a "doddering old fool who wanted nuclear war."
The actor adds another reason why the film's 2024 release matters. MAGA nation may not understand how much the Left loathed President Reagan long before a certain real estate mogul joined the political fray in 2015.
"Everyone seems to think Trump is some unique person who deserves to be hated," he says.
Searcy is one of a handful of openly conservative actors, and he's maintained a steady career despite the industry's aversion to Right-leaning talent. He's recently been joined by both Quaid and "Shazam!" star Zachary Levi. Both endorsed Trump in recent weeks, with Levi admitting the decision could be "career suicide."
Searcy thinks he knows why they're speaking out now.
"People see the situation a little more clearly now and what's at stake ... what good is it if you hang onto your career but you lose your country," he says.
He posits another reason for mainstream stars to pick a side.
"Hollywood is losing its position as the center of the entertainment universe," he says, noting how many productions have fled for Canada and tax-friendly states with lower costs of living.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the actor's concerns:
Shooting days slipped 5 percent over a three-month period from July to September to 5,048, marking the weakest quarter of 2024, and every category of scripted production lags behind five-year averages on both a per-quarter and year-to-date basis.
That's not the only change allowing Right-leaning stars to speak their minds.
Searcy notes new distribution companies, like SDG Releasing which handled the Daily Wire's "Am I Racist?" or ShowBiz Direct distributing "Reagan" and a possible new streaming platform from Team Trump, Truth+.
"The infrastructure is being built. We don't have to suck up to the Hollywood Left anymore," he says.
For now, Searcy nimbly dances between mainstream Hollywood projects ("The Shape of Water," Netflix's "The Perfect Couple") and indie fare ("Terror on the Prairie," "The Old Way"). He also produces Right-leaning documentaries like "Capitol Punishment."
That's all while holding nothing back on X via @yesnicksearcy.
"I hope people see that and take courage in it," he says, understanding he's likely lost work for his outspoken views.
His political musings have opened up new creative doors. Consider his appearances in the last two Dinesh D'Souza films ("Police State" and "Vindicating Trump"). He also signed a deal with a Nashville-based company to direct and co-write a passion project about a gospel quartet in the 1960s.
"There is a certain gratification in following your heart and doing what you believe in and letting the chips fall where they may," he says.
Ironically, Hollywood did have plans for a different "Reagan" biopic in recent years, but it was nothing like what Searcy and Quaid delivered with their movie. The 2016 project, hatched from a Blacklist screenplay, cast Will Ferrell as a dementia-addled leader in a satirical comedy.
The project received a flood of furious blowback, including from two of Reagan's adult children Michael Reagan and Patti Davis. That effectively shuttled any plans to bring it to the big screen.
Searcy wasn't aware of that proposed film, but he wasn't surprised to hear about it.
"That's how the Left in Hollywood uses the [film] medium ... it's evolved from a storytelling medium to a way for them to attack their political opponents," he says. "I'm waiting for a movie about how feeble Biden was."
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News' Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.