Penelope Ann Miller on Working with the Godfathers of Hollywood – De Niro, Pacino, Brando – and Her Iconic Roles of the '80s and '90s In this star-powered episode of Still Here Hollywood, Steve Kmetko sits down with acclaimed actress Penelope Ann Miller, who opens up about her incredible career starring alongside cinematic legends Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Robert De Niro—all three Godfather icons. From powerful performances in Carlito’s Way and The Artist to comedic classics like Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Big Top Pee-wee with Paul Reubens, Penelope shares behind-the-scenes stories, lessons learned from working with Hollywood royalty, and how she navigated fame through the golden era of '80s and '90s filmmaking. A must-watch for fans of crime dramas, cult comedies, and unforgettable film history.
This is Still Here Hollywood. I’m Steve Kmetko. Join me with today’s guest, actor Penelope Ann Miller.
Actors in Hollywood are fortunate if just once in their career, they get the chance to co-star with the biggest names on the big screen.
It’s a testament to their acting talent when they’re paired with a number of worldwide box office juggernauts.
Today, we are graced with one of those actors. She found her WAY with Carlitio. Survived Kindergarten, with a Cop. And recently portrayed an iconic first lady of the United States.
Steve Kmetko:
Yes, I'm Still Here Hollywood. Just ahead on today's episode, I think it's kind of funny that you worked with Brando De Niro and Al Pacino, the godfathers, all three godfathers. Who else can say that? I don't think anybody can.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Right. Especially Brando, I think no one knew what to expect with Brando. There was one night we were having dinner at Oasis, which is a nice restaurant in Toronto that they have in New York as well. And, and Matthew and Bruno and I were having dinner at a table and all of a sudden, we feel these pellets like hitting us in the back of our head. And we see these bread balls and we turn around and there's Marlin sitting with the gaffers in the grips, having dinner at this fancy restaurant and throwing bread balls at us.
Steve Kmetko:
You also played Jeffrey Dahmer's mother in Monster.
Penelope Ann Miller:
I did.
Steve Kmetko:
I crossed paths with John Gacy growing up in Chicago. I'm glad I turned down his dinner invitation. Actors in Hollywood are fortunate if just once in their career, they get the chance to co-star with the biggest names on the big screen. It's a testament to their acting talent when they're paired with a number of worldwide box office juggernauts.
Today we are graced with one of those actors. She found her way with Carlito, survived kindergarten with a cop, and recently portrayed an iconic first Lady of the United States.
This is Still Here Hollywood. I'm Steve Kmetk. Join me with today's guest actor Penelope Anne Miller. If you'd like to be more involved with us at Still Here Hollywood, you definitely can just visit patreon.com/stillherehollywood. You can support us for as little as $3 a month. Then you can see who our upcoming guests will be and submit questions for them. You can even tell us what stars you want us to have on as guests. You'll also get exclusive behind the scenes info picks, video and more. Again, that's patreon.com/stillherehollywood.
Hi Penelope.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Hello.
Steve Kmetko:
Thanks for joining us today.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Thank you for having me.
Steve Kmetko:
I read quite a bit about you as I was preparing for this, and I can't remember who, but I believe someone told you early on, correct me if I'm wrong, that it was important to, during your career, keep working, keep working. And you seem to have done that with a number of different roles. I think it's kind of funny that you worked with Brando De Niro and Al Pacino, All three Godfathers. Who else can say that? I don't think anybody can.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah, right. I don't know. I feel incredibly blessed that I got to work with not just the Godfathers, but just these amazing actors that are iconic as well. I don't know what happened. I feel, I just feel very lucky because I admired them so much and to get, to kind to get in a room with them, let alone play opposite them. It's like, what people say is when you're playing with a great tennis player, it just --
Steve Kmetko:
Makes you that much better. Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
Was it intimidating?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, I'd say at first, maybe especially Brando, I think no one knew what to expect with Brando. But he, when we first met him, we were in Toronto and we were in the director Andrew Bergman's condo that he'd rented. Because We were filming there and we were going to have a read through. And, you know, just Brando showing up at all was just that even going to happen? Because he really wasn't, he was kind of semi-retired. He really wasn't working that much. And so even I actually have interesting story. I had an agents at the time who were trying to persuade me not to do the freshmen because they didn't think Brando would show up to make the movie. And I was offered another movie called Johnny Handsome, and they wanted me to do that because they thought that was more of the sure thing.
So, I was like, I think I'm going to take my chances. If there's a chance I can work with Brando, I think I'm going to hedge my bets on that one. And I called Matthew Broder because I'd worked with him in Biloxi Blues. And I said, you think that, do you think Marlon's going to show up? And he said, well, they have pictures of them and the producers in Tahiti with their arms around them. And he's all and so, he was all in. And then, anyway, he shows up in Toronto. He is like an hour late. And Bruno Kirby was like in the lobby waiting with like a fedora hat on a newspaper. Like a detective would be like, Brando's in the room, Brandon's in the house, like, he's walked in, he's entered the building. Anyway, we were just filled with nerves and anticipation. And he came in and I kid you not, he was in a powder blue velour jumpsuit. And I was just like, whoa. Not how I imagined him. And he came in just all smiles and giggles and laughing and he said, oh, my daughter. And he gives me this big bear hug, and I think he might have fractured a couple ribs. And he was --
Steve Kmetko:
While he was hugging you or before then?
Penelope Ann Miller:
No, when he hugged me, I was just like, ah, but I'd had a, anyway, I don't want to even go to the story, but I already was sensitive in that area. Because I'd had this really bad coughing thing when I was in our town on Broadway, and I did. So, I think he refracture, he didn't actually do the fracturing from coughing so much terrible story. But anyway, he was delightful. He was funny, he was charming, he was playful. He loved, he was a prankster. He loved the fact that he was parroting his role from the Godfather. We had a great time and he loved actors and he loved the crew. Not so much the executives. Like there was one night we were having dinner at Oasis, which is a nice restaurant in Toronto that they have in New York as well. And Matthew and Bruno and I were having dinner at a table, and all of a sudden, we feel these pellets like hitting us in the back of our head. And we see these bread balls and we turn around and there's Marlon sitting with the gaffers in the grips, having dinner at this fancy restaurant and throwing bread balls at us. And we were like, wow. And those are the people he wanted to hang out with. It was every man.
Steve Kmetko:
Could you feel any of the aura he had about him in, in terms of being an actor? I mean he's one of those people where you say his name in certain circles. And it's like…
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah, well, he probably didn't see himself that way, nor does I think anyone, unless, I don't know, maybe a queen of England or something. But I just feel like, I don't think he walks around thinking, oh, he is Hollywood royalty or acting royalty. It was actually pretty funny because one time he'd invited us into his trailer and he was on some fruit drive, would you like some fruit? And Bruno and Matthew and I are sitting in his trailer and he says, you know, he's trying to give us some advice. And he says, you know, you've got to trust your instincts as an actor. You know, always trust your instincts. You know, I was doing this movie called, I don't know if you know it, it's called On the Waterfront. Really? We were like…
Steve Kmetko:
I don't know if you know it. Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Because he thought we were youngsters and who, why would we have seen a black and white film, you know, from the fifties, whatever. So, we were like, yeah, we've seen it. I mean, any actor with their grain of salt has seen that movie. But he didn't think about it that way. And he didn't know. So, he's saying, I was had a scene in the taxi cab and we're like, yeah, that's the most famous scene in the movie. And he says, and my brother is sent by his boss to threaten me. And he says he is going to kill me. And, you know, [Uncertain Words] the director and you know, yes, we know he is. I mean, the whole thing was just hysterical. Because We're like, our jaws are dropping, they're knocking on the door, going ready on the set, ready on the set.
We're like, give us a minute. Just let him finish the story. So, then he says, yeah, and Neely wants me kind of to be mad and scared of my brother and mad at him and everything. And he said, I don't know if I should be scared of mad. I think I would feel that it was more sad and pathetic. And he, so he was, he said, but I had a therapy appointment at five. So, he had to cut out. And I don't know if you know this, but he was gone for Rod Steiger's off camera. I don’t know if you know this.
Steve Kmetko:
Oh, I don't. There was a movie in which he was quite difficult with another actor. Maybe that's what I'm --
Penelope Ann Miller:
But I think Rod never let him down. But he left before he got to do his reverse. But he had a standing like five o'clock therapy appointment and he didn't want to miss it. And anyway, so they only had time to do two takes with Marlon. So, Elia said, we'll do one your way, one my way. And then of course, the way it ends up in the movie is, I mean, obviously so brilliant, but it was like, Charlie, you know, I could have been somebody, I could have been a contender. I mean, it's, you know, incredible line. But I mean, just the way in which he played it with such pathos and such sadness and such hurt, and not the way that he, I guess, wanted him to do it. And he's, those were his instincts. So, he was just relaying to us, you know, not fight with your director all the time, but just if you have an instinct, use it and stand up for it. And so, but it was interesting because of all the movies and of all the scenes and the story that he's going to share with us was incredible.
Steve Kmetko:
I could have been somebody.
Penelope Ann Miller:
I could have been somebody. Yeah. It was you, Charlie, it was you. I mean, it's so sad, but beautiful.
Steve Kmetko:
Okay. can we go on to Robert De Niro?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Okay. Shall we?
Steve Kmetko:
That was Awakenings, right?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Awakenings. So, I had just done the freshman with Marlon Brando and Bruno Kirby, who, well, Marlon was actually the older godfather of De Niro, but De Niro and Brando were friends. And this is funny because I had auditioned for a movie called, We're No Angels that Sean Penn and de Niro were in together. And there was the female lead who went to Demi Moore to me, when I went to audition for that, de Niro was in the room. I was there to audition with him and the director. And he had his pages with him. And he looked down the entire audition. He did not look at me once. And I was so thrown. Because I was like, I don't know, like, this isn't normal. Like, why wouldn't he look at me? Because isn't that the whole reading, you know, point of reading opposite somebody?
And I thought, maybe that's a signal he has with the director. If he doesn't like somebody, he just won't look at them. Anyway, I came out of the audition, I burst into tears. I was like, calling my agent. I'm like, he hates me. I don't know, I guess he didn't like what I did. Da da da. Anyway, cut to, I'm making the movie the freshman. I'm in Toronto. I get a call saying that they want me to come in and audition for Awakenings with Penny Marshall and De Niro. And I'm, I said, and it was funny because I was talking to Bruno about it, who knew him. And I said, I don't know that I want to go through that again. I don't think he likes me very much. Because the last time I auditioned for him, he wouldn't look at me. And then Bruno's like, oh, you just have to understand Bobby.
He's really shy. He's like, painfully shy. I was like, really? Like, that is not how you imagine him at all. Because of the roles he plays, like Taxi Driver or The Godfather. And so, I was like, oh, Shai, that's, aw, I felt then. I felt really sorry for him. And I'm like, well, I just have to get him to come out of his shell. And it was sort of a challenge for me. And I said, well, Shai can handle being just aloof and mean and rude and not looking at me is a whole different story. So, I just thought, well, maybe that he just has a hard time with pee people. So basically, I went back, it helped that I was able to say, hey, I'm working with, because it was during, I went and auditioned during the time I was doing, still doing the freshmen. So, I said, I'm working with Marlon Brando and Bruno Kirby, and they say hi, you know, so that oh, you know, oh, okay. You know, and so that kind of brought him out of his shell a bit. Anyway, auditioned and got the role. So, Robin Williams --
Steve Kmetko:
Robin Williams was in that cast two.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Robin Williams, who was, I didn't have any particular scenes with him, but he was around because we were shooting in a real insane asylum. Out in were we in Jersey or Long Island? One of those two places. Anyway, we were out there filming in a real active one. They do, we just took over a floor. So, he was quite eerie. But, but the funny thing about Robin was he obviously it was a very serious role that he played. And he was, I thought, very brilliant. And I think it was such a under what's the word I'm looking for? It was he was so subtle and he, but he was playing a real-life person and I just thought that it, he did it so masterfully that I think people are so used to Robin being so out there, they didn't realize that his performance was just so on point that I think it was underappreciated.
And I think he deserved more credit for that. Because Oliver Sacks, he was, if you'd met Oliver Sacks, he was like exactly like him. But, between takes, he would crack jokes. And so, everybody was laughing and all these people who were supposed to be emotionally unwell and all this stuff. But and it was funny because with De Niro, he's a lot he was probably the most method actor I'd worked with. So, he was very much in character a lot. And so, you could see it was really hard for even him, for De Niro not to crack up when Robin was doing his shtick. And you'd see go, I'm trying not to laugh. So, it was pretty funny. But…
Steve Kmetko:
And with Penny Marshall and --
Penelope Ann Miller:
And Penny and then there was Penny and my nickname's Penny. So that was difficult because then I'd kept turning my head when they were calling Penny. Luckily, she caught me, Penelope. But sometimes she'd call me Penny. It was just confusing. And then the director I forgot where he was from, but he was a foreigner and I couldn't understand him. And with Penny's accent, you know, he talks like this and you can't hardly understand it. And so, we did, like I said, does anyone know sign language? Like I just need an interpreter. I sometimes didn't know what she was saying. I didn't know what the cinematographer was saying. So that was pretty funny. But De Niro was interesting in that he would have me do things off camera. He was there for my off camera and so was Marlon Brando for that matter.
But he would ask me to do things that would shock him, that weren't in my character, wasn't in my character or in my lines. And he would say, you know, swear at me, or wait, take a really, really long pause before you talk to me. So that he would become uncomfortable. Or I would shock him by saying, I fear you or whatever it was he wanted me to do. I'm like, that's so weird. I'd never had anybody do that to me before. But it actually was a really great tool to have because I've used it since. And I've asked other people to do the same thing. Like, because sometimes when you're doing take After take and Penny Marshall does a lot of takes when you're doing take after take after take, it can get stale and you're anticipating what's going to happen. And so, in order --
Steve Kmetko:
The spontaneity is gone.
Penelope Ann Miller:
The spontaneity is gone, and we're supposed to be in the moment and not know what's going to happen next. So, I kind of loved that during his off camera, you know, you wouldn't see what I was saying or doing, but it was actually a great little trick in the little basket of tricks for actors. So yeah, I appreciate that about him.
Steve Kmetko:
Did you enjoy working with Robin?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, yeah. He was lovely. Just a lovely guy,
Steve Kmetko:
Wasn't he?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Very. And you know, it's just so tragic what happened to him. I just, you know, it's funny, there's, they say that a lot about comedians and underneath that's their defense mechanism.
Steve Kmetko:
Tears of a clown.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Tears of a clown that underneath they used humor to kind of get out of that. But deep down there, you know, sometimes depressed or troubled. But yeah, I thought he was --
Steve Kmetko:
Robin was always one of my favorite interview subjects.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, I Bet.
Steve Kmetko:
And people used to ask me, isn't he hard to interview? No, not at all.
Penelope Ann Miller:
No. He makes it probably really easy for you.
Steve Kmetko:
Throw a question.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. He just doesn't stop.
Steve Kmetko:
Shut up.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. And he keeps going.
Steve Kmetko:
Well, he was the best and such a decent guy.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Really good person. And you know, so that I had a great experience on that movie. I loved the whole movie and it was nominated for an Oscar. And Nero was nominated as well. I thought Robin Williams should have been too. But I just thought it turned out beautifully. And it's such a moving story. A lot of people remember that one. There's like a few that I have in my wheelhouse of work that people, oh,
Steve Kmetko:
A few at least a handful.
Penelope Ann Miller:
A handful that are kind of weirdly like, I don't know if weird is the right word, but are kind of like these maybe cult classics or people that, movies that people see over and over again. The freshmen being one of them. The kindergarten cop, another one Carlito's Way and that was amazing with Al Pacino and Sean Penn.
Steve Kmetko:
How was Pacino to work with? He's so intense.
Penelope Ann Miller:
He's intense. But he was lovely too. He was great. He loves working with actors. He really cares about the work. Those are the things that I would say is a through line between all those actors that we've just mentioned of, of the Godfathers. They really, they don't care about the stardom at all. They don't care about being famous. They just, they want to work. They like work. I mean, Brando after a while was like, eh, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. Which is fine, but
Steve Kmetko:
Go to Tahiti and relax too.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Go to Tahiti. Let's just hang out. Yeah, right. Pop a beer and hang out in your kitchen with your, the crew. But, you know, I do think with, with Al Pacino is that he's constantly working on the script. He's wants to rehearse all the time. It's funny because Brian De Palma was very much, he's very much a technical director. And I mean, he's brilliant too. But he wasn't into this like, let's rehearse this for a few times before we shoot it. He was like, ah, because he's already had the scene mapped down his mind of how it's going to look exactly. Like, completely figured out the entire movie and how it's being shot. And, you know, it's incredible. But I think he'd get frustrated and he was like, all right, everybody leave. Like, we all wants to rehearse.
So, like, we'd leave the room and rehearse it. But I appreciated both sides of that. Of course. And but yeah, I loved that about Al and, and he just really, he really loves to work. He's passionate about his job, and he cares about it. And you see that in his work. And like I said, it's nice to work with people that aren't into the limelight that that comes with it. But they're more reluctant. And that's why, that's where the shyness comes in with someone like a De Niro or they kind of like, they'll do the red carpet, but you can tell they're just, they're so uncomfortable.
Steve Kmetko:
They'd rather be anywhere else.
Penelope Ann Miller:
They're like, they're have like posing and they're really like, okay, here, take my picture. Okay. You know?
Steve Kmetko:
And then you have an Arnold Schwarzenegger who loves the limelight.
Penelope Ann Miller:
There are those out there as well who don't have a problem doing a red carpet or an interview and having a good time. And he was somebody who told me, he goes, whatever they ask you, you just say whatever you feel like saying and you go on, and then they don't have to keep asking you questions. He was that, I mean, you probably know, you probably interviewed him. He just goes off on his own tangent and he just, whatever you want to cover, you just cover it.
Steve Kmetko:
He would come in when we would do interviews and he would just start talking about things. And he would tell you what the movie was going to open, what the gross opening gross would be.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh my God.
Steve Kmetko:
And he knew, I was amazed by him, and I knew he was destined for big things. Because he and not necessarily an acting. Because he would come in and he seemed to know everything and would be willing to tell you everything you --
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, he's a real businessman.
Steve Kmetko:
Yeah, he is.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. So, he does think of all of that. And that's something that's kind of interesting about him because he's obviously interested in the whole aspect of the, not just filmmaking, but wherever he is committed to at the time. He's looking at Yeah. The box office and all of that stuff.
Steve Kmetko:
And usually with a cigar.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. With a cigar. Yeah. And he was another prankster too.
Steve Kmetko:
Oh, was he?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah, he was a big prankster. Yeah. I got my first car that I'd ever bought new, I bought on kindergarten Cop, and I had it delivered to the set. And we were filming at Universal in the Valley, and I got this shiny red BMW and I said, oh, here's my car. You want to come out and look in my car? And it was by my trailer and our trailers were across from each other. And he's like, this is new. And I was like, yes, it's new. I just got it. He's like, oh, I don't know Penelope. I'm not doing exact right, Penelope. And he would go, he started going around the car looking underneath it. I said, but the odometer is like 0, 0, 0, whatever, 1 to 2 or something like that. He goes, ah, they changed that all the time. They just put it back, you know, could have had a lot of miles on it and everything. So, I'm sitting there thinking to myself, oh my gosh. Like, they sold me a used car. They've lied to me, and I'm about to go run in and call the dealer to say like short secrets telling me --
Steve Kmetko:
Short secrets told me.
Penelope Ann Miller:
He sold me a used car. And then he is like, ah, Penelope is so gullible. You know? So, I mean, he would do things like that. Like, he was constantly joking around and he seems to love being on set and love having a good time.
Steve Kmetko:
We'll be back for more in a moment.
I crossed paths with John Wayne Gacy growing up in Chicago. The thing I want to talk to you about is the movie I saw most recently. Reagan.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Okay. Right on.
Steve Kmetko:
And how was that experience for you?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh my gosh. Well, we've been on a journey, quite a journey with this movie. We started filming Reagan August of 2020.
Steve Kmetko:
Wow.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. So, we served a White House term, basically.
Steve Kmetko:
Yes, you did.
Penelope Ann Miller:
To get this movie out. And it was right in the very beginning of Covid. And so, there was many protocols that we had to adhere to, and we had to isolate as best we could. And we were filming in Guthrie, Oklahoma, which is, was supposed to be the replica of Reagan's hometown Dixon, which is Dixon, Illinois. And, you know, beautiful town. But we couldn't go anywhere. So, we at least had each other. And that was pretty funny. But, you know, it was challenging for sure, you know, because the rest of the crew is in masks and the director's in a mask.
Sometimes you can't understand people. You didn't know what people looked like. Luckily the actors don't have to wear the mask is wearing makeup and hair. So, we could breathe. But in any case, it was that was challenging. And then of course, if somebody came down with Covid, we'd have to stop production and on and on. So then, you know, we also finished in Guthrie, although they did have to come back to film some other stuff when we shot at the Reagan Ranch, and then we shot at the Reagan library. So, it was just, and that was the year of 2021. So, we were sort of going through this process of just getting the film finished. Then they had to go back to Guthrie that summer of 2021 and it was challenging just to play Nancy Reagan. That was to me the biggest challenge of all, because it was very big shoes, or little shoes to fill.
But she's so iconic and so famous, and I don't think people would initially look at me and say, oh, she's Nancy Reagan. So, I knew that I had a big undertaking to get it right. And I didn't.
Steve Kmetko:
I think you did a great job.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, I really do appreciate that. I worked really, really hard. It's probably the hardest I've ever worked in terms of research and just constantly every day, looking at the material re read, I read her book, which was called My Turn, her autobiography or her memoir really. That was my Bible. I held it around so it's completely like tattered and dogeared and highlighted. But luckily the director Sean McNamara and our writer Howie Klausner were so collaborative with me. And one of the things when I first read the script was Nancy Reagan originally Nancy Davis, of course is when you meet me, but was kind of underdeveloped.
It just that storyline hadn't been as prominent in the script as she is, as Nancy is in Ronnie's life. And after reading all the material on her, and from her press secretary, Sheila Tate, who I read her book, lady and read, and countless others, talked to a lot of people who worked with her. She was just such an important figure and in so many ways, but just his true partner. And they were a power couple and they were also really in love. And there were so many aspects to that part of the story that I just felt was the heart of the movie. And they agreed. So luckily, we were able to collaborate and work on it together to get it where it ended up in our film in Reagan. And I was very happy that they cared about that too.
And so, that part of it, of course there's edits and things I miss that aren't there anymore, but that always happens. But I think the end result, I mean, people talk about the love story when they've seen the movie and how moved they are. And I think without that love story, I don't think people would be as emotionally invested. They would just be thinking, this is a political drama or a biopic. So, I think that relationship with Nancy was really for the movie, but just also really capturing the essence of who these people were behind the famous aspect of who they were and what people could see maybe, you know, on YouTube or seeing his speeches or seeing her stand beside him, is just understanding who these people were as human beings.
Steve Kmetko:
Did you spend a lot of time at YouTube looking at newsreel footage and things of that nature?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. I watched a lot of documentaries. I watched a lot of interviews. There was a Barbara Walters interview. There was a Larry King interview, there was interviews with that. She would sit beside them, basically. And chime in every once in a while. But yeah, I watched as much as I could. Because I also wanted to get her, I guess her persona, just the way in which she used her inflections, the way she spoke. I'm not going to sound exactly like her, I'm not going to look exactly like her, but I wanted to get as close to it as possible. So really, I also have to give a lot of credit to my hair, makeup, and wardrobe because the wigs and the wig maker Natasha, who is amazing, and she made three wigs, and I had these incredible makeup and hair people and wardrobe to make sure that I had the right look. Because her look is also iconic. And so, from different eras, I mean, we started in the movie at the late forties and go to the seventies and then all the way to the eighties. So, getting those periods right and her look during those periods. And that really helped me get into character as well. Was, was being in those outfits and having that the hair and so it was, there was a lot involved to make these.
Steve Kmetko:
What do you think you learned about her that you didn't know before?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, my image of her and I was young girl. I mean, look, I grew up in the eighties. This was sort of, that's sort of my era, right? And I think that's what people actually love about the film. There's a lot of nostalgia. A lot of people either lived in the eighties who wish they could go back to the eighties and or who didn't live in the eighties, who thought, wow, that was maybe a cool time to be in America. But I think there's a lot of nostalgia. And I guess my image of her then as a young girl was that she came off very stoic, but kind of cold, maybe a little prickly. She just had a, I don't know if it's tough because she was feminine, but she definitely had more of a removed exterior. There was just something, but she didn't feel like the warm and cuddly type with him. She did. Ronald, of course, is who I'm referring to but --
Steve Kmetko:
She had his back.
Penelope Ann Miller:
She had his back. She was extraordinarily protective of him and very wary. And she was the one who really felt like she was, that was her job, was to protect him. And look, she gave up her acting career, unlike Jane Wyman, who was his first marriage, which was, I think part of that the demise of that marriage was that I don't think Jane Wyman cared about him getting into politics and didn't like him being sag president and was mad that his movie star status was waning and hers was rising and very opposite to Nancy's feelings about him. I think Nancy was willing to give it all up, didn't care if he gave it up. I mean, like, they worked for General Electric. He was doing Vader. I mean, she stood by him even in the dark times, which I think says a lot about her, about them.
She truly loved him and believed in him, and I think she really believed in his purpose. But going back to your original question is, I found from the people that I spoke to and from what I read, is that she was very vulnerable, and she was, she did have a soft side, and she had a very playful fun, I mean, she obviously thought he was a hoot and loved his jokes, and he was very funny and charming and disarming. But I think that persona was a protective mechanism that she put out to the public was, don't mess with my man. And especially after the first attempted assassination, and there were like two months in the White House when that happened to Reagan, I think she became incredibly fearful and very wary of who he surrounded himself by. And but I think she just felt that was her job to be his biggest support and his biggest protector. And I think she did a good job of it, actually. Maybe some people didn't like it, but --
Steve Kmetko:
Well, I think this is probably not the right word anymore, but I think feminists looked at her and how she, in my opinion or my viewpoint she kind of took a back seat, put her life on hold, and was there strictly like his right-hand woman.
Penelope Ann Miller:
You know, well, there is, I think there's a sig stigma attached to a woman who stands behind her man. You know, she's considered the maybe the manipulator or submissive or maybe devious or maybe there's just so like you said, the feminists don't see that as being a strong woman when if it was a man behind a man, he'd probably be considered a strategist and clever and all that stuff. So, I just find that that's sort of a misogynistic way of looking at her, because I think what she did was really important. And I think it was really honorable. And he even says, you know, many because he wrote her a love note every day, and he constantly appreciated her. But he even told the public, he said, you know, I would've lost my soul if Nancy hadn't come into my life.
And I think he needed her. And I think she knew that. And he, even their son, which, you know, there was prickly relationship there he said, my dad would never have been president of the United States if it wasn't for my mom. So, I think it was her that really lifted him, that gave him the confidence to be the man that he became, who fueled him, who empowered him and was truly supportive in the best way. I think she believed in his purpose and that he had a greater purpose in life instead of just being an actor. And I think there's something very noble about that, whether you agreed with him, liked him, didn't like him, whatever she did. And I think she propelled him to become what he became in two terms, in the White House plus Governor of California.
Steve Kmetko:
Right. I think very much she found her voice, and her voice was as his a company
Penelope Ann Miller:
And confidant.
Steve Kmetko:
Right.
Penelope Ann Miller:
And I think he relied on her. I think he put all of his trust. I think she was probably the only person he truly trusted. And I don't think she was the puppet master. I don't think she was manipulating or saying this is what you should do, or these are the policies you should have. I think she really respected his opinion and his decisions. She had opinions. He didn't always follow them, even with certain people he hired that she didn't want him to hire. But I think for the most part, he did confide in her. And so, she was really, truly his ally.
Steve Kmetko:
Did you want to play the role from the very beginning?
Penelope Ann Miller:
I did. I did want to play her. I was nervous. It was quite a daunting task, and I was scared to play her. But being an artist and an actor, I think you just one. Well, the things that I like about that is I like to surprise people, and I like to play parts that are outside of the box and not how people would perceive me. I like to challenge myself. That's what makes it fun and interesting to me, is challenging myself to see like, can I pull this off? Can I do this? Am I capable of it? And I want have diversity in my career. I mean, I want to show range and I don't want to be typecast. And I, I've never wanted to be that. So, when you start young and you're the ingenue, it's harder to kind of break into the character. Although I did play Brendan Adventures in Babysitting, which I thought was, yeah, it was a character role, but and it was comedy, which I love. But yeah, I just always wanted to, and then being in the freshman playing Marlon Brando's daughter, I don't think people would've seen me as the Italian mafia princess. And luckily, they, I could dye my hair and put on an accent and the whole thing. And so, there's things that I just like to surprise myself and my audience. I guess
Steve Kmetko:
We'll be back in a moment.
What about Paul Reubens?
Penelope Ann Miller:
I was getting an award, a career achievement award at the Sarasota Film Festival, and he's from Sarasota, and he was there and he read about it in the paper, and he called me and he said, I heard you're here. And I said, yeah. I said, oh, let's have lunch. And he came over and we had lunch, and he met my oldest daughter. And, then when I got my, I was getting an award and they were going to do a Q&A like we're doing now, and he showed up, he was there, and the audience said, I was just really blown away.
Steve Kmetko:
Are you going to write a memoir?
Penelope Ann Miller:
You know, it was so funny. My, my manager asked me recently, would I write a memoir? And I said, oh my gosh. You know, and I love memoirs, you know, I love, and I love, like Myrna Loy has a great one, and obviously they all do. Like Catherine Hepburn and List goes on and on, and so does Nancy Reagan. I just don't know if I'm ready yet. I feel like I have more stories to tell, you know, I'm not done. And I kind of feel like there's also a fear if I were to say as much as I want to say, like, I'd have to limit it because there's so many people around that are still --
Steve Kmetko:
That you still want to work with --
Penelope Ann Miller:
I still want to work with. And not that I have horror stories, but I do have interesting stories. And if I really was going to be truly candid and be the best book that he could be in terms of what my life is, then I don't know. Maybe I should wait, but I didn't. I'm not the one that keeps the journals. So, someone say, there's a lot, there's a lot I remember, but there's a lot. I forget too, but maybe it would all come back to me. But I should kept the journal --
Steve Kmetko:
Very handy, when the time comes.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Nancy Reagan had a journal.
Steve Kmetko:
Yeah. Did she?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, she would actually, in her, sorry, in her memoir, you would see, like, this is what I wrote on this day. So, it was really verbatim. So, I would go to the writer, I'm like, no, she said it just like this. She wrote it. This was the day. I mean, even the day of the assassination where they said, oh, you can't go to the hospital, because she didn't know if he'd been shot yet or not. They just said he'd been shot, but they didn't know if he'd been hurt or hit. And then they said, you can't go there, Mrs. Reagan. And she says, you're either taking me or I'm walking. So, they put that in the movie, and then even when she got there, they were like, you can't see him. And she said, no, he needs to know I'm here. And all those little elements, just little one line here there made such a difference. But I was like, no, this is what she said.
Steve Kmetko:
Well, and it paints a much more complete portrait of the woman.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Right. Right. And how important, you know, Nancy was to Ronnie, and Ronnie was to Nancy. And how they were just, they couldn't, in fact, she also said this, which was when she sees him after he is woken up after his surgery, she said, I should have been there. I should have, I always walk on your left side. And then he says, but it would've been you then. And so just this beautiful moment of like, I wasn't there to protect you. And she felt so guilty, which he was like, yeah, but I didn't want something to happen to you. And, but she said all that. It's all there. So, I mean, it was just a wealth of information and to see, to be able to read something from her perspective, which you don't get as an actor very often. You don't get to actually you can surmise maybe what they were thinking. But I actually got to get into her head, which was amazing gift.
Steve Kmetko:
What about Paul Reubens working with him?
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, yeah. We lost that was another sweet man that we lost. He became just a lifelong friend. I always got his funny Christmas cards and then he always sent me like, he does this on Valentine's Day and your birthday, where he seen sends you memes starting like at midnight all the way until the following midnight. And when I was at his memorial, so many people talked about that they were close with him of the funny memes, the birthday memes, the Valentine's Day memes, and, you know, and especially your birthday. Because He'd be like, one more, you know? And then they were always hysterical. And so, it was just really sweet that he would remember things like that. And I was I was getting an award, a career achievement award at the Sarasota Film Festival.
And he's from Sarasota and he was there and he read about it in the paper. And he called me and he said, I heard you're here. And I said, yeah. I said, oh, let's have lunch. And he came over and we had lunch, and he met my oldest daughter. And, and then when I got my, I was getting an award and they were going to do a Q&A like we're doing now. And he showed up, he was there and the audience said, I was just really blown away. Like, a lot of people don't do that, especially famous people like that. But I just thought that was so incredibly supportive of him. And yeah, he was great. He was really funny. And, I loved being in Big Top Pee Wee and working when Kris Kristofferson, who we just lost also recently. You know, it was fun to, I didn't really have a lot of scenes with him, but, but just working with Pee Wee was such a blast for me. And playing that kind of comedic role. And it was so, it was a lot of fun.
Steve Kmetko:
You must be able to look back at your career at this point, even if you're not ready to write a memoir and think to yourself, wow, I've had a good life here.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
Hollywood was a good choice for me.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. I didn't want to do anything else. I never even had a thought to do anything else. I mean, I liked dancing, but I knew that that wouldn't be a career for me. And I never was really a professional dance. I took dance, but I thought that was too grueling. And it was, you know, to be a chorus…
Steve Kmetko:
Too many ankles or injuries.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Injuries, and then just how do you become a famous dancer, you know? Unless you're the British in the Cough and I wasn't going to go that route. But anyway, but I loved acting. I always loved it. It was something as a little girl that we built a stage in our backyard, my sister and my dad was in the business. So, I was exposed to it. He was an actor and a filmmaker, Mark Miller. And he was on a TV series that Maybe,
Steve Kmetko:
Please Don't Eat the Daisies.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Please Don't Eat the Daisies. So --
Steve Kmetko:
With Patricia Crowley.
Penelope Ann Miller:
With Patricia Crowley and Lata Dog. And that was such a cute show.
Steve Kmetko:
And Jeff and Joel Ian.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yes. Who he stayed friends with who would really would come visit him?
Steve Kmetko:
No kidding.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. Oh my gosh. But they were, they remained friends. And Pat Crowley too remained. We would have dinners once in a while with her. She's lovely. But anyway, so he did that and he did a lot of other things. In fact, he studied at the come Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and he, one of his classmates, and they were taking a dialect class was Grace Kelly. And he dated her for two years while he was at the New York Academy of Traumatic Arts. So, and he got her first modeling job because he was modeling. And yeah, that was pretty. So, they remained friends and we would get, when she married Prince Rainier, we would get Christmas cards from them, from Monaco. So, that was interesting. But so were exposed to it and we were around people.
And my dad had obviously friends that were in the business. But we would put skits on for our parents and their friends when they had dinner parties. You know, God bless them for sitting there and watching us. And Dabney Coleman daughter Kelly was a good friend and she is an incredible musician and plays like every instrument and is an incredible voice. And so, we would. We did like singing nuns before Sister Act. Like we thought we were hysterical. We were like these singing nuns. I mean, we'd come up with all sorts of, we did mystery theater with the tape recorder and doing the walking on the, with the shoes on the table. And so, it was in my blood and it was something I cared about. And I was in the drama department in, in elementary school and junior high and high school.
And it really wasn't until, I didn't go into it professionally, until I moved to New York. And then I studied at HB Studios with Herbert Berghof. He became my mentor. And then shortly thereafter I got blocks, sea Blues on Broadway. And, and then just everything opened up for me. It was, and then I got to do the movie, which the only other person from the original cast besides Matthew Broderick, was this Matt Mulhern. And he was the only other person who got to the movie. Because It was Gene Sacks did the play. But Mike Nichols did the movie, and he just really wanted his own cast. So, I was very fortunate to get cast as Daisy Hannigan.
Steve Kmetko:
I just remember the line from that movie. It's hot, it's Africa.
Penelope Ann Miller:
It's hot, it's Africa. Yeah, I know, I know. There's a lot of cute lines from that movie. But yeah, so I was lucky enough to be able to do not only the Broadway show, which we won, the Tony and Barry Miller won the Tony for his role as Epstein. And then the movie, I got to do the movie with, you know, Christopher Walken and Matthew again. And yeah, it was really, really great. So, a lot of things helped me along the way with my career. But definitely being in a Broadway play like that, and Matthew was really on the rise. He'd just done more games. He left our show to do Ferris Bueller. He became huge.
Steve Kmetko:
Christopher Walken is another intense one.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Very. Yeah. I didn't have any scenes with him. I got to meet him, of course. And hung out with him a little bit. But he's a character. Oh my gosh. He's a character. Yeah, he's very interesting.
Steve Kmetko:
And we'll be right back.
You also played Jeffrey Dahmer's mother in Monster.
Penelope Ann Miller:
I did. Yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
I kept telling everybody after I saw it you need to see this, this movie so good. And then they always got the same reaction, Ew --
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, that's what they thought. I mean, the thing about Dahmer that I thought was so well done is just that it wasn't about the gory side of it. It was really the emotional, it was about the victims. It was about the family. It was about his upbringing. I mean, it was more psychological in my view. Not that there weren't things that would definitely be eerie and scary and gross, but it wasn't as graphic as I think people would expect it to be. It wasn't like a horror movie. It was a psychological drama. And what I found interesting is that you were able to see what was his childhood, what were his parents like, what was his relationship with his family? And then the grandmother and the dad and the, and the mom obviously, and then the stepmom.
I mean, so there was just, there was a lot there that I thought was so fascinating. But not only that, but they also covered who these victims were, which I thought was really great. Because when you hear about these serial killers that become so famous for their heinous crimes, you don't know anything about these victims. I mean, they're just a number and you don't, so you don't care. It, I mean, you do care obviously, that this, these horrible acts are being committed, but you don't know anything about these victims and who they were and what their lives were like. And I just love the fact that they were telling those stories too, which obviously gives it much more of an emotional impact when something horrific happens to them. And they're getting killed, murdered in horrific ways. You understand who these people were and where they came from and what their stories were.
And I just think that that was so fascinating and interesting and compelling. And I think that's why it made it a story that you were, you didn't know what was going to happen in a way, because you didn't know what was going on with these people or how it happened, why it, when it happened and that, those sorts of things. So, I think there was still that element of surprise and interest and things you didn't know. Even the mom, like there wasn't much said about Joyce and she had her own mental emotional issues and postpartum and being on drugs while she was pregnant. And of course, the husband and wife for blaming each other. She's blaming him for the road kill, getting him involved in road kill, which apparently is a thing with serial killers.
They always start with roadkill, generally speaking, is statistically what I've heard. But yeah, so the dad is blaming Lionel's blaming Joyce, and Joyce is blaming Lionel. I mean, which would happen, you know, it happens. Not that it would, but it does happen a lot in marriages and relate with what happened to my kid, what did you do to him? You know? And then she wanted to have his brain studied and he wanted it, and the dad wanted it cremated. And, it's what actually Dahmer wanted Jeffrey, he wanted to find out why he was like this, and she wanted to study his brain. And the dad was like, nope. So that was kind of wild. But that again, too was such a character role for me. I was so appreciative that Ryan Murphy gave me the opportunity to play her. Because I don't think it's somebody people would necessarily see me as playing. And it was so it was fun for me to get into that kind of a psychological interesting complex character like her.
Steve Kmetko:
I crossed paths with John Gacy growing up in Chicago.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, well I have an interesting story about that too but --
Steve Kmetko:
Well, I'm glad I turned down his dinner invitation.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well --
Steve Kmetko:
It happened. Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Wow.
Steve Kmetko:
That's be in my memoir.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, and John Gacy's in our film in, has a part in Dahmer as well. But I have a good friend of mine, his name's Jack Merrill. He's from Chicago and actually is doing a one man show about his childhood in Chicago. He grew up in Evanston, and he was picked up by John Wayne Gacy, and he was assaulted in all of those things, but he got away.
Steve Kmetko:
Lucky. Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
He was able to psychologically deal with him and talk to him in a way that he was able to not get killed. And it's a fascinating story. And he's my age, or he is a little, maybe a little bit older, but he's never told this story at all. Like, no one knew about it, like his, you know, family. So, because he didn't want that to define him, and he didn't want that to be his story, it was something that he dealt with and obviously it was horrible and scary and frightening. But anyway, it's interesting that you mention that. Because here you had an interaction with him and thank God turned him down. My friend got in a car with him which I'm like, what were you thinking? Didn't know who he was, but got in a car with him outside of a car.
Steve Kmetko:
He gave me the creeps.
Penelope Ann Miller:
So, wait, I'm going to ask you. Since you brought up Dahmer and then John Wayne Gacy, you have your own story about John.
Steve Kmetko:
Yes, I do. I lived not far from where he was doing all these nasty deeds. Several of the people I went to the same high school where victims same high school as me. Wow. I was working at a pharmacy as a delivery boy in Des Plaines Illinois, which is just outside Chicago. And he used to come in at night when they were having it remodeled, save more, save more drugs, and we would lock him in at night. He always had a young crew of men working with him. They would do what they needed to do to this remodeling project over the weeks and months. And he would always come up and just start talking, you know? And a couple of times he asked me if I wanted to go out and grab a bite to eat when I was off work. And I said, he gave me the creeps. I said, eh, not, not interested.
Penelope Ann Miller:
You didn't think he'd be a fun dinner?
Steve Kmetko:
No, no, no. I didn't think partner. I probably end up being dinner. No, no. That was Dahmer, not Casey. But yeah, it's funny who you encounter during the course of a lifetime.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Wow.
Steve Kmetko:
So, you've been married for 24 years.
Penelope Ann Miller:
And then we segue into my marriage.
Steve Kmetko:
What a wanted --
Penelope Ann Miller:
Great segue.
Steve Kmetko:
I wanted to move home --
Penelope Ann Miller:
From serial killers to my marriage. I have been married for, I got married in 2000.
Steve Kmetko:
How did you manage to stay married for so long in this town?
Penelope Ann Miller:
That's a great question. Well, my husband's not in the business. His dad was and his mom was too, his mom was an actress and his dad was Roy Huggins who created Rockford Fowls and The Fugitive and Beretta and Run for Your Life. Really famous TV shows. He was a television pioneer basically. But anyway, so he grew up around it. But I knew my husband, I met him in high school and we didn't date then. We just hung around the same crowd. He was at a private school, I was at a public school, and then he ended up at the public school I was at. And we sort of remained friendly, you know? And then I moved to New York to study acting and then started becoming an act started working. And so, I was really primarily living in New York, but interestingly enough, he came and saw me.
He saw Biloxi Blues when we opened at the Almonds in LA. And he also came and to See Our Town, which I was nominated for a Tony for, and that won the Tony 1989, something like that. And he was in New York at the time and saw me in the, that show. So, he seen, so he sort of was following my career following, you know, but we'd stay in touch like that. And then, back to 99, we reconnected and I sort of moved back here to LA and reconnected again through mutual friends. Because We had a lot of childhood friends. And at that time, we were not with other people. And I guess just the timing was right. But we have two beautiful daughters. We have a 23-year-old and a 15-year-old, not by design, just the way it happened. But yeah, we're still together. And, you know, it's a journey. It's a ride. You know, it's not always easy, but I think if both people are committed to doing the work and care enough about each other and have that common, whatever that is the companionship thing or the --
Steve Kmetko:
When the angels sing and the fireworks go off.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. I mean, you know, obviously love changes over the course of time, but hopefully it grows and you have the lust in the beginning and then you have the love and you obviously want to still find the other person attractive, which we do. So that helps. But yeah, I think we just both care about doing the work and hanging in there and here we are. But yeah, it's, that's like a miracle in Hollywood, right?
Steve Kmetko:
Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
To 24 years, really. 25 from when we started dating. So, but yeah, I feel grateful, yeah. For that. And for our children. I mean, I'm blessed to have these girls. I mean, they, they changed my perspective a lot on my career where I was working all the time, and that's all I had. And so, I just wanted my next job. And now it's more like I just want a job that I'm, I want my downtime because I want to be with my family and I like to be home and I like to travel. And, but if I'm going to go to work, I want to really enjoy that process. And I want it to be a character I'm interested in or a story I'm interested in telling or actors that I love to work with.
And you know, so just going back to Dahmer really quickly, I mean, Evan Peters probably one of the best I've worked with. I mean, he's way up there with De Niro and Al Pacino and Brando. I, he's another person that I found very similarly in to, in the aspect of caring about the work. More so than being a famous person or being in the limelight. I don't think he likes it very much, actually. He's shy too, very shy. But he was probably the most method actor I worked with. It was really hard for him to kind of get out of character. And I think that was his way of, and that's a pretty dark place to be when you're Jeffrey Dahmer.
Steve Kmetko:
When you're playing Jeffrey Dahmer. Yeah.
Penelope Ann Miller:
I felt bad for him. I was like, oh no, poor guy. He's staying in it. But I don't know. I got along with him really well playing his mom. Maybe there was a different aspect of that connection. But Niecy Nash was like, I didn't really know him until the end of the movie until the end of the series. She goes. I had no sense of him. Because He didn't really talk to her, but that was because he wasn't trying to be mean or anything. I think it was just really trying to stay in character.
Steve Kmetko:
I hear Daniel Day Lewis is kind of like that when he gets into a part.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah, I've heard. I've not worked with, but I've heard that. Yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
We have a question from a Patreon subscriber. His name is Cameron Willie, and he asked if you have any yearning to get back to Broadway.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Oh, that is an interesting question. You know, I really loved it when I was doing it. I guess it's now more daunting to me because I haven't done it for so long. I just wonder if I'd be really nervous to get back on stage. I mean, there's something beautiful about doing theater work, because you've got the audience right there and you get that immediate gratification and you get to play the story from beginning and to end. You get to go through your arc as a character. And it's exciting. I mean, I've thought about it from time to time and I've been, get been asked about doing certain things in the past, but nothing has come to fruition. There was a time that I actually really was interested and now I'm sort of kind of more home bound. But I think it's not something I would rule out. I don't think I'd want to make a long commitment just because I still have a daughter in high school. So maybe it would be something I would think about. Of course, I could do theater in LA Right?
Steve Kmetko:
True, true.
Penelope Ann Miller:
But I don't know if it's far as New York anyway, but I did love it. And that's really my background. That's really where I came from. So, it would be interesting to go back.
Steve Kmetko:
Penelope, I could sit here all afternoon and talk to you. But I don't want to take up any more of your time, but thank you.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Thank you.
Steve Kmetko:
For being so open to this.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. We might just have to do a part two.
Steve Kmetko:
Okay. It's deal
Penelope Ann Miller:
I opened my mouth. But honestly, like --
Steve Kmetko:
Not worries.
Penelope Ann Miller:
There is so much to talk about. There are so many films where I've worked memoir with so many interesting, I guess there, here comes the memoir. A lot of people I've worked with and I have a lot of, I'm very grateful to be here, to still be working, to still be somewhat relevant. I've been very blessed with the people I've gotten to work with, and, and it's all taken me on my journey as an artist. And I'm continuing to find, like even just playing Nancy Reagan and Reagan and playing Joyce Dahmer and Dahmer, like, the fact that I'm still doing interesting roles to me. So, I'm thrilled that I'm able to do that at this time and stage in my career.
Steve Kmetko:
I thought Dennis Quaid did a good job too, as Ronnie.
Penelope Ann Miller:
He was amazing. Yeah. He worked really hard. He worked very similar to me. He did a lot of research and really had to get the voice down and the look down and the whole thing. But I was grateful that he was there. Because I think without him and if we didn't have the chemistry, I don't think the movie would've worked. So, the fact that we got along so well and we worked together so well and we became friends, I think that just only helped with the performance and with that real love that Nancy and Ronnie had for each other. And that's just to me, I've never seen a love story quite like theirs. So hopefully that's inspirational.
Steve Kmetko:
So, and if people want to see that, they can stream it.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Stream well, it's on demand. It's on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and then it will be on Blu-Ray. So, you'll be able, there's many opportunities to see Reagan, it was in the theaters, it did really well. I mean, people were bawling their eyes out at the end of the movie and giving it standing ovations. And it really surpassed their expectations of how audiences react. But I think it triggered something in people of, like I said, either a nostalgia or a way we were hopefully get, wanting to get back there a human story about a real person other than, there's all these Marvel movies and I'm not putting them down or anything, but there's just a lot of special effects, a lot of cartoons. I think just to see a human story about a man who came from hum beginnings and ended up in the whitest. I think it's interesting. So, I think people were craving that. So, and they can still have see it. They can still see Reagan. So --
Steve Kmetko:
And it's on Blu-ray November 19th.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yes. Raymond.
Steve Kmetko:
So, after Thanksgiving dinner, you can sit down with your family and watch it.
Penelope Ann Miller:
And watch. Right. And it is a family film as well.
Steve Kmetko:
It is. It is.
Penelope Ann Miller:
I just got an award for portraying Nancy Reagan for the Family Film and Television awards on CBS.
Steve Kmetko:
Congratulations.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yeah. It was for best performance playing historical character. So anyway, yeah.
Steve Kmetko:
Thanks Penelope. I really enjoyed this.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Yes, I did too. Thank you.
Steve Kmetko:
This is what this podcast is supposed to be about.
Penelope Ann Miller:
Well, we love that. I'm glad I could contribute.
Steve Kmetko:
Thank you.
Penelope Ann Miller:
All right. Thank you.
Steve Kmetko:
Still Here Hollywood is a production of the Still Here Network. All things technical run by Justin Zangerle. Theme music by Brian Sanyshyn and executive producer is Jim Lichtenstein.