--- description: Will Ferrell will star in and produce a movie about President Ronald Reagan in his later years. title: Will Ferrell Will Play a President in a Movie, But Not the One You Think image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73c18e06f942fe66/698890f0ab6d7712636a9738/will-ferrell-3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Will Ferrell Will Play a President in a Movie, But Not the One You Think  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 27, 2016 7:52 PM CUT  Will Ferrell attends the "Zoolander 2" World Premiere on February 9, 2016 in New York City. Will Ferrell attends the "Zoolander 2" World Premiere on February 9, 2016 in New York City.Kevin Mazur—2016 Kevin Mazur/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 27, 2016 7:52 PM CUT Though the president [Will Ferrell](http://time.com/4240035/kanye-west-will-ferrell-zoolander/ "undefined") is most closely associated with is [George W. Bush](http://time.com/4222781/south-carolina-republican-debate-george-bush/ "undefined"), whom he [impersonated](http://time.com/4146881/will-ferrell-george-bush-snl-trump/ "undefined") frequently as a cast member on _Saturday Night Live_, the actor is set to play one of Bush’s Republican predecessors, Ronald Reagan, in an upcoming satirical movie currently titled _Reagan._ _Variety_ [reports](http://variety.com/2016/film/news/will-ferrell-to-play-former-president-ronald-reagan-in-new-movie-exclusive-1201762057/ "undefined") that the actor has signed on to star in and produce the film, the screenplay for which was among recent favorites on Hollywood’s Black List, a list of the most promising scripts that remain unproduced. Penned by big-screen newcomer Mike Rosolio, _Reagan_ focuses on the president during his later years, as he is beginning to suffer from dementia. Its somewhat meta (and, it’s worth noting, fictitious) plot finds a young intern tasked with convincing him that he is once again an actor, playing the role of the president in a movie. Back in March, Lena Dunham and John Cho starred in a live reading of the script, inciting Internet outrage among some that Dunham, a [vocal supporter](http://time.com/4306966/lena-dunham-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ "undefined") of Hillary Clinton, was cast as Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4310109/will-ferrell-ronald-reagan-movie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4310109/will-ferrell-ronald-reagan-movie/"},"headline":"Will Ferrell Will Play a President in a Movie, But Not the One You Think","datePublished":"2016-04-27T19:52:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:05:27.007Z","description":"The actor will play America's 40th president","url":"https://time.com/4310109/will-ferrell-ronald-reagan-movie/","keywords":["movies","Ronald Reagan","Will Ferrell"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73c18e06f942fe66/698890f0ab6d7712636a9738/will-ferrell-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73c18e06f942fe66/698890f0ab6d7712636a9738/will-ferrell-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Will Ferrell attends the \"Zoolander 2\" World Premiere on February 9, 2016 in New York City.","caption":"Will Ferrell attends the \"Zoolander 2\" World Premiere on February 9, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—2016 Kevin Mazur/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4310109/will-ferrell-ronald-reagan-movie/","name":"Will Ferrell Will Play a President in a Movie, But Not the One You Think"}}]}] ```