Magnolia Pictures
We know Will Smith is out but Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are in for the Independence Day sequels, but there are other actors whose return status is unknown. Because the first sequel, titled ID Forever – Part 1, is said to be focused on the kids of the adult cast of the original, with Jessie Usher reportedly playing Smith’s son or step-son, there’s no reason for working actors Mae Whitman (Pullman’s onscreen daughter) and James Duval (Randy Quaid’s onscreen son) not to come back. But then what of Duval’s onscreen sister, Lisa Jakub? The former child actress, who also costarred in Mrs. Doubtfire and was the Leia inspiration character in George Lucas in Love, retired from the business in 2001.
In comes Charlotte Gainsbourg, who The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog says is in talks for an undisclosed role in Independence Day 2, as they’re still calling it. The Lars von Trier regular, known for his movies Antichrist, Melancholia and the two-part Nymphomaniac, could just be director Roland Emmerich’s pick of a European star to play an actual international character, not unlike his casting of Jean Reno in Godzilla. Or, she could play the older version of Jakub’s character, Alicia. She’s almost the right age and looks the part, but there is the potential issue of Gainsbourg’s reported refusal to change her accent for a role, as we saw with her performance in Melancholia.
20th Century Fox
Not every character’s kids need to be in ID Forever – Part 1, but if that is indeed the angle, and it is a good one to take, then the kids of Randy Quaid’s character ought to have some involvement with the story. Their father bravely sacrificed his life to defeat the aliens in the original, and that will cause a lot of drama for them when the landmark-destroying spaceships return 20 years later. And when they do, Gainsbourg as Alicia will have good reason to take those aliens’ balls with a block of wood, Antichrist-style. At least the Independence Day 2 in my mind is awesome.
ID Forever – Part 1 hits theaters on June 24, 2016.
