I’ve been an actor for over 40 years, here’s why my next role might be my most important

I’ve been an actor for over 40 years, here’s why my next role might be my most important. I've seen Marxism creeping in into our lives. My role in 'Reagan' is a warning.

My character, Kertchman, managed to escape the USSR and traveled around the U.S. giving speeches, trying to enlighten Americans about the real life in his home country and about the lies they had been fed by the Soviets with the assistance of easily manipulated westerners. Quite often, Kertchman was met with skepticism, but one who was not skeptical was a young preacher in the small town of Dixon, Illinois, named Ben Cleaver who invited him to speak at his church – the home church of a 17-year-old named Ronald Reagan.  Elya Baskin has had roles in dozens of movies including "Moscow on the Hudson," "Air Force One," and "Spider-Man 2 and 3." He plays Soviet dissident B.E. Kertchman in the upcoming film, "Reagan," starring Dennis Quaid.

One of the attendees asked me what surprised me the most about America. I told him the following: in the Soviet Union, people were forced to praise the government and despise the capitalist West. If, God forbid, you revealed in a conversation that you loved America, this somebody could report you to the authorities and you could get into serious trouble. Yet, in America, I told the group, to my astonishment, I quickly learned that revealing that I love America could also get me in trouble! And that’s when everybody got up and gave me an unexpected and big round of applause.