Jessie T. Usher took time out of his busy schedule to talk to The Knockturnal about his new project, “Independence Day: Resurgence,” which hits theaters this Friday.
Tell us about your character and the journey he takes.
So I play Dylan Hiller, the stepson of Steven Hiller, played by Will Smith, and the biological son of Jasmine, who’s played by Vivica Fox. 20 years ago, he endured this tragic invasion with the aliens and everything, and ever since then, he’s grown up and followed in dad’s footsteps and joined the military, and now he’s worked his way up to being the captain of this new military branch called the ESD, or the Earth Space Defense. So Dylan is a pretty good fighter pilot, very well-respected, and his dad was also very well respected because he saved the world 20 years ago. In the film,where we pick up, things are fine and in the second alien invasion, everybody’s looking to him to do what his dad once did. There’s a little bit of pressure on him to do the big thing, make the big move, and it’s just a matter of if he’s going to step up to the plate or not. There’s a lot of people counting on him, his mother being one of them, so he has to do what he can to save a lot of lives.
What was it like working with some of the actors who were in the first installment of Independence Day? (ex: Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox)
It was inspiring, but it was also like stepping right into the television because when you make a sequel or a remake of something, the original cast is still in it so you’re in the same universe. It doesn’t feel like you’re doing a movie with the people that were in it, but with this film, you have the same actors playing the same characters. It’s almost like we just stepped right into the movie screen, just continued with the story almost. Also, they’re all very nice and very uplifting and they gave us a lot of words of encouragement and prepared us for what’s to come because they’re the only ones who really know what it’s like after the movie will come out. I was actually very happy to have been able to work with the former cast as well as the new cast.
What was it like working with new cast members?
It was awesome. Everybody’s really good at what they do. Liam’s done the big action films a few times beforehand, so he’s kind of just got the formula down. Maika Monroe was also a brilliant young actress, she’s done a lot of independent films and stuff like that, but everybody brought a new flavor to the film and everybody was really in-depth with their character so we got a chance to play a little bit. We have actors who take their jobs seriously and come in with all different levels of preparation. It’s just like a big playground. You don’t have to worry about the words or people stressing out about whether or not their performance is good; everybody just kind of trusts their own work and we had Roland as the master orchestrator to make a really good product.
What was it like working with Roland? (Roland Emmerich, the director)
It was a great learning experience. I can’t even imagine what it was like to direct a film like this one, but Roland just got there. He’s like a mastermind, like a scientist that knows his realm. I don’t even know how else to explain it. The fact that he can wrap his mind around something so massive as this film and yet pay such intricate attention to the details and stuff that no one else on set would ever recognize. His eye is incredible and it shows. Luckily he trusted me when I came; he liked what I was doing, so he allowed me to do more and just be myself and whatnot, just embrace this character, and embrace this film and this experience, and it was fun all the way around.
What was your favorite scene to shoot?
It might have been those flying sequences, like the scenes where I’m in the cockpit battling aliens, those scenes were pretty awesome. I mean they were really, really exhausting, a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming, a lot of high-intense reactions, stuff like that, but those were pretty fun. Never a dull moment when you’re fake flying a plane.
How was working with all of the special effects?
It was very different than what I thought it would be. It was pretty simple actually. They made an actual cockpit for me to sit in and everything else was surrounded by blue screens and incredible lighting. I don’t even know what to call them, pictures I guess, and all these special effects that were already pre-set up and when I was there, everybody knew what moment was happening at that time. Everything happened at once; I would react to something and there would be a light explosion or something to my left and then the top might shake and turn. I don’t know, it was bananas, and the preparation that went into shooting that was all for one or two seconds on camera. It’s incredible to see how it’s done.
Sequels can be tough. Do you personally think fans will be satisfied with the sequel?
Oh yeah, absolutely, and it’s because we’ve been waiting for 20 years for the sequel to come out and the timeline in the movie is exactly the same, like it’s exactly 20 years. So the only difference is you see how this Independence Day universe has been rebuilt over the last 20 years and how it coincides with reality and I just think people are going to be so interested in that and what Roland has done with the world around us and how he’s incorporated the alien technology. It took five years for them to write the script and make sure the story was perfect and then they have such an incredible digital team working on the film, so there’s no way that somebody could see it and not be satisfied.
I’m really excited. I love the first installment so I can’t wait.
I’m excited for you.
What do you love about working in each of the mediums of TV and film?
I like that they’re different, honestly. In television, everything moves so fast and it’s like a forever growing, living, breathing thing that you’ve got to feed and cater to day and night. It’s exhausting, that’s for sure, but you feel alive the whole time you’re on TV. Everything moves quick, you know, we shoot five scenes a day, but then you get on film and it’s like the exact opposite, everything is very slow. I like that too because now I get a chance to really dive into a character and I get the chance to build him in a way that you can’t necessarily do on television. You need 3 or 4 seasons to create a character that you can create in a film, and it takes almost about the same amount of time to shoot a season as it does to shoot one film, but I just like the fact that you’re able to work different muscles working from television to film.
What would you say was the biggest takeaway from working on this project?
I would say, honestly, just being able to get used to the size of this production. It has just changed me as an actor because walking in, we had maybe six huge, massive studios. I mean, these sets were a hundred feet high, you know, it was like being on a moon base for real and it was just mind-blowing. Now I understand what can be done and what it’s like just to be around people who make films like this; they have an energy that you don’t come across every day. They just know they’re doing something great and it’s a really good feeling.
Independence Day: Resurgence hits theaters on June 24.