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same combination of explosive action, global
devastation, and heartfelt humour.
Hemsworth admits that working with the
esteemed German director
was partly what drew him
to the role, saying: “I was a
huge fan of Roland's. He's
an amazing director who
pioneered this genre and does
this sort of film so well, so I was
happy to be a part of it.
"He manages to create a great
balance in these epic scenarios. He
creates very chaotic, literally out-of-
this-world scenarios with very real
human relationships and situations
that show you how humans would really
react in that situation – he nails that
really well by finding what cuts
to the core of audiences and
really making it heartfelt.”
Playing the charming,
maverick is not new to
W
hen iconic FX-fest
Independence Day
was first released, Liam Hemsworth
was six. He remembers watching the
alien invasion epic on VHS but says he had no
idea he would be starring in its sequel exactly
twenty years later. But every
Independence
Day
needs its hotshot, cocksure hero, and
Hemsworth fills Will Smith’s boots perfectly as
Jake Morrison, a US pilot serving in the Earth
Space Defence (ESD) unit who lost both his
parents in the original attack.
“He's a little bit more outspoken than I am.
A little bit more of a rule breaker than I am. His
ego is a little bigger than mine – I don't really
take myself too seriously,” says Hemsworth,
reflecting on the role. “We begin the film with
him being a forklift driver on the moon. And
because his ego got in the way, he made a bad
decision.”
Independence Day: Resurgence
, which will be
invading cinemas in June, sees the planet much
changed in the two decades following the first
attack. Having harnessed some of the advanced
technology from the spacecraft wreckage, a
global defence programme (ESD) is in place to
prevent further invasions, with a military base
established on the moon. The trouble is that
in the meantime, the aliens have also greatly
advanced their technology and are hungry for
revenge.
The film sees Jeff Goldblum and
Bill Pullman return in their respective
roles, and, like the original, it's
directed, produced and co-written by
Roland Emmerich, who delivers the
Hemsworth, who is best known for his role as
the rebellious Gale Hawthorne in
The Hunger
Games
franchise. Growing up as the youngest
of the Hemsworth dynasty on Phillip Island,
Victoria, he is also used to defending his corner
and admits that whilst he and brother Chris are
close now, as kids it was a different story.
“We're both so like-minded and so stubborn
that we would constantly fight for whatever we
thought was right!” says the 26-year-old. “There
was one time when my parents went overseas
for a couple of months and me and my brother
Luke stayed at my grandma and grandpa’s
house, and Chris had to stay at my uncle's
house because we were too much
trouble for my grandparents.
We couldn't be together
without having a
fight.”
15
INTERVIEW
CINEMA
CINEMA
Independence Day: Resrugence
Independence
Day: Resurgence
is in cinemas on
June 23
The Dressmaker
I don't really
take myself
too seriously
Twenty years after the original movie,
Independence Day: Resurgence
sees the world faced
with a new alien threat. Luckily Earth has a new hero, and he’s a Hemsworth…
The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 2