"God was in action."
This is what actor Dennis Quaid told Jacqueline Burkepile about Saint John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan's friendship in an interview about his upcoming movie about the former president.
Quaid sat down with ChurchPOP editor Jacqueline Burkepile to discuss the movie, "Reagan," as well as his personal faith, the Ronald Reagan presidency, and the impact Saint John Paul II made on the president and the world.
Watch the interview with Dennis Quaid below:
Saint John Paul II and Ronald Reagan had a special friendship after they both experienced assassination attempts on their lives.
They became good friends and were instrumental in defeating Soviet communism during the Cold War.
Quaid recalls that the first scene they shot during production, which depicts Saint John Paul II's assassination attempt on May 13, 1981.
"Right from the get-go, the first scene we shot was in the Oval Office, and it was watching on television–Pope John Paul was shot--the assassination attempt that he lived through, forgave his assassin, and actually went to visit him in jail. I mean, that's really quite something," Quaid explains.
Quaid then discusses the assassination attempt on Reagan's life on March 30, 1981, during his first couple of months in office.
"It completely changed the trajectory of his presidency and the two of them were Cold Warriors. You know, it had the pope being Polish, and Reagan and Lech Wałęsa, and Margaret Thatcher, you know, they won the Cold War, and Reagan was a huge part of that," he said.
"I don't think it could have happened without those links. I think you've got to say that God was it work here and bringing all these about because before then, it seemed impossible."