If you had visited my house when I was a kid, chances are you would have noticed my mother's Infant Jesus of Prague statue as well as tributes to the Pope and President John F. Kennedy. Yes, we were household.
My devoutly Catholic mother instilled a love for both men—and for us, as Irish Catholics of that era, being a Democrat was like breathing. It was assumed. So how did I become the director of a biopic about a president, Ronald Reagan? As you might guess, there's a story behind that.
Before I ever signed on to direct this movie, one of my heroes, John G. Avildsen, the famed director of "Rocky," was slated to direct it, but after he passed away from cancer the baton was handed to me. John loved the story and used to tell our team that Reagan was about politics like Rocky was about boxing: that is to say, it wasn't.
Boxing was merely the backdrop for a story about a man who faced tremendous odds and then overcame them; in the case of Reagan the backdrop was politics. John's words have guided me and all of us on this movie. Truth is, I'm not really a political guy at all these days, but I do know a great story when I see one.
As a film director for more than 30 years, I've been able to tell a lot of stories about many interesting people: immigrants who wanted to become American citizens (Spare Parts), boys who wanted to be rock stars (Mighty Oak) and girls who overcame great tragedies (Soul Surfer) and died doing the things they loved (The Miracle Season). But before any o.