Dennis Quaid had no idea why he was picked to play his ‘favorite president’ Ronald Reagan in forthcoming biopic

Dennis Quaid had no idea why filmmakers reached out to him to play Ronald Reagan in forthcoming biopic.

The 66-year-old Hollywood veteran — who still has a very in-demand acting career — was a bit baffled to being offered the role of the late Republican president.

“I didn’t understand why they were offering me Ronald Reagan because I just didn’t see it,” Quaid revealed to EW. “I admired him so much, and so I had a chill of fear go down my spine when I was offered it. That’s usually kind of a sign that maybe I should do it, because it’s out of my comfort zone.”

Aptly titled “Reagan,” the Sean McNamara-helmed biopic is adapted from author Paul Kengor’s book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism” by screenwriter Howard Klausner.

Quaid is a big fan of the actor-turned-politiciant.

“He was my favorite president of the 20th century,” the registered Independent voter told The Irish Times in 2019 when he thought the financing for the film fell through. “I didn’t agree with him politically on a few things, but he was emblematic of my mother and father’s generation and a great communicator. It’s a really good script.”

This would be the first time Quaid portrayed a U.S. president; he played Bill Clinton opposite Michael Sheen’s Tony Blair in Peter Morgan’s “The Special Relationship” in 2010.

The new film follows Reagan as a child, as a young man coming up in Hollywood, and eventually as president, into the later years of his life.

The former California governor’s role as Screen Actors Guild president and the war he waged against communism in the industry will also feature in the movie.

McNamara told the outlet he set to tell a bigger story he tried to achieve that by “picking story beats that people would not find on YouTube or in other movies.”

In November, Showtime premiered “The Reagans,” Matt Tyrnauer’s brutally honest, unflinching four-part documentary miniseries about Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan.

“Wizards of Waverly Place” star David Henrie will portray the young Reagan.

“The Bold & The Beautiful” actress Lesley-Anne Down has been tapped to play Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, following in the footsteps of Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” film and most recently Gillian Anderson in Netflix’s “The Crown.”

The long-gestating biopic, which also includes insight from more than 50 people who knew the 40th POTUS, is targeted for an early 2022 release.