“We don’t like Will Smith”: 30 years ago, the studio did not want the actor for Independence Day, and the reason is scandalous

In 1996, a sci-fi blockbuster hit the screens and blew up everything in its path: Independence Day! Directed by Roland Emmerich, it grossed an insane $817 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $75 million. In France, the film attracts 5.6 million curious people!

The studio doesn’t want Will Smith

Since Bad Boys had been released the year before, Independence Day confirmed the international star status of a certain Will Smith, then 28 years old. The actor plays Captain Steven Hiller, a charismatic US Air Force fighter pilot and hero in the fight against an alien invasion. His duet with scientist David Levinson aka Jeff Goldblum is sparks!

Unsurprisingly, 20th Century Fox did not want Will Smith to play Stephen Hiller. At that time, the actor was known for the series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and the success of Bad Boys did not really convince the studio.

“Ethan Hawke It was also on our list, but I thought it was too young at the time. It was pretty obvious that it had to be Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum. That was the duo we were thinking about. The studio said, No, we don’t like Will Smith. He has not proven himself. It doesn’t work in international markets.”– revealed the director Roland Emmerich at the microphone The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.

No, we don’t like Will Smith. He has not proven himself. It does not work in international markets.

The principal steps up to the plate

In turn, his co-writer Dean Devlin revealed another argument supported by the studio, much more scandalous: “They told us, ‘If you cast a black actor in this role, you’re going to kill overseas revenue.’ Our argument was, ‘It’s about aliens. It’s going to be successful overseas. It was a big war, and Roland really stood up to them for Will Smith. In the end, we won the war.’Dean Devlin confided.

Roland really stood up to them for Will Smith. We finally won the war.

Roland Emmerich really put his heart and soul into hiring Will Smith, even threatening 20th Century Fox: “It was shortly before we started shooting and we still hadn’t confirmed Will and Jeff. I was pounding on the table saying, ‘The people at Universal are calling me every day, so give me these two actors or I’m out!’The director recalls.

The latter had a fandom, with Will Smith’s performance often cited by the public as one of the great strengths of the blockbuster. The scene where he shoots at the alien ship, hits the alien, and delivers a furious line: “Welcome to Earth”became legendary. After this film, the actor achieved a series of successes, especially the trilogy Men in Black, in which he again faces the little green men.

No follow-up for Will Smith

20 years later, Will Smith will refuse to reprise his iconic role as Stephen Hiller in the sequel, Independence Day Revival. At that time, the actor had to make a choice between filming this second part or making a suicide squad. In the end, he favored a new challenge, preferring not to hang on to a character from the past.

Proving him right at the box office, the sequel failed to match the success of the first episode, grossing only $389 million internationally for a much higher budget estimated at 165 million larceny. Conversely, Suicide Squad would be a resounding commercial triumph, grossing $750 million worldwide for a total of $175 million.