EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Jon Voight On Playing The President In ‘Shadow Land,’ JFK Assassination Plot & RFK Jr.

Iconic actor Jon Voight revealed why he believes his new film Shadow Land can help viewers understand the gravity of the American presidency in his new uInterview.

Shadow Land follows former president Robert Wainwright as he is plagued by vivid nightmares that foreshadow his premature death and calls a longtime psychiatrist to his secluded upstate retreat. The specialist uncovers that the looming danger may be more serious than previously imagined.

“I thought that it was a good way for people to understand the weight of the presidency and the consequences of actions that come down to that desk,” Voight told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “It’s a good way to present a portrait of the office itself in some way. And then I thought the script was very extraordinary in that it’s a thriller. It had some depth to it. It’s showing you something all along the way, and then it satisfies you in terms of the way it resolves. It’s very exciting. Very shocking and exciting.”

Voight noted that he had not based his performance off any president in particular, though he thinks people will say it’s based on President Joe Biden. “No, I didn’t actually [base it on one person],” he said. “Well, I know we have a situation with our President Biden, you know, he’s having functional problems, but no, I didn’t think about that. But I thought people would probably say, ‘Well, this is something about Biden,’ but it isn’t. And, of course, [President Ronald] Reagan had that, too. At the end of his life, he had Alzheimer’s. So I understood that. And I’m getting older. I’m 85 years old, so I’m figuring that out. I’m looking for signs of age; you see what I mean. But so far, I think I still have a few of the marbles left.”

The actor explained that he felt the movie shed light on the heavy nature of the president’s duties and the importance of wisely choosing a leader for the American people. “Each president is judged by the decisions he makes, the moments that occurred, and the mistakes that he made, too,” he said. That’s why we have to be very careful about who we put in that office.”

Voight continued, “Look, John Kennedy was given information for the Bay of Pigs, wasn’t he? And for those of us who know history, he was given information to go into Cuba and take over this communist regime in Cuba and save people there, but all the information he was given was wrong, and we don’t know, by the way, we don’t know to this day, who really killed John Kennedy, who were these people that wanted him to be taken down? And there’s something being hidden continually from the American people after all this time.”

Voight further speculated, “It’s an interesting time now, of course, we have his son, Robert Kennedy [Jr.], running for the presidency, and the present president will not give him security. I mean, what drama is going on in front of our eyes right now? You know, of course, his uncle was killed, his father was killed, and they won’t give this guy some protection? It’s very disturbing, isn’t it? So there’s things going on, and I think opening the door to a little of that is important. It gives you certain insight; it takes you into this office a little bit.”

Shadow Land is now available on demand and in select theaters nationwide.