Comedian Will Ferrell will reportedly play former President Ronald Reagan in an upcoming film purportedly reviving a conspiracy theory about the 40th president’s battle with dementia.
Sources told Variety on Wednesday that Mr. Ferrell has been cast as the title role in “Reagan,” in which “an ambitious young intern is tasked with convincing the Commander-in-Chief that he is an actor playing the President in a movie,” according to the movie’s logline.
Reagan biographers have long debunked the notion that the former president suffered from dementia while in office.
Steven Hayward, author of “The Age of Reagan,” cited transcripts of conversations between Reagan and former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev as proof of the president’s mental acuity throughout his second term.
“There they go again ,” Mr. Hayward told The Washington Times. “Since the Hollywood left can no longer directly attack Reagan’s record in office, they have to resort to making up a disability to try to turn him into a comic figure. Anyone who has ever read the transcripts of Reagan in his one-on-one meetings with Gorbachev will know that the premise of this film is absurd.”
Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, six years after he left office.
The script, which appeared on last year’s Black List — an annual catalog of the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood — received a live reading in March starring Lena Dunham and John Cho.
Mr. Ferrell is known for his comedic portrayal of former President George W. Bush on “Saturday Night Live.”
A director for the film has not yet been announced.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.