“Survivor’s Remorse” star Jessie T. Usher fills Will Smith’s alien butt–kicking shoes as the late Capt. Steven Hiller’s son, Dylan Hiller, in Roland Emmerich’s anticipated sci-fi sequel “Independence Day: Resurgence.”
On playing Smith’s son.
“Dylan grew up following in his [deceased] dad’s footsteps. Since the first attack happened, the world has created this new division in the military…it’s a worldwide thing called the Earth Space Defense, and my character is the captain. He runs an elite squad of pilots called the Legacy Squadron. I don’t want to brag too much, but they’re the guys you call when things get real heavy. [Dylan has] basically spent his entire life trying to live up to his father’s name.”
On ‘Survivor’s Remorse.’
“ ‘Survivor’s Remorse’ is a very tough show to be a part of, and I mean that in the best way possible. We get challenged in ways that I never thought I [would be] as an actor. But, man, it’s sharpened me up. When I got to the ‘Independence Day’ set, it was a walk in the park. All of a sudden, I’m only doing one, maybe two scenes a day, whereas I was doing five or six a day with heavy dialogue. I feel like there’s nothing that I can’t do.”
On what he looks for in roles.
“I like inspirational stuff. I like things that are uplifting and made to make you feel good. And I always look to challenge myself.”
On booking ‘Independence Day’ at the gym.
“I met one of the producers at the gym, and he told me the sequel was going to happen. And of course I was excited about it—it changed the game 20 years ago, back in 1996. Just the idea of being a part of it was mindboggling. I had a meeting with [director] Roland Emmerich. I sat down with the producer I’d met, Harald Kloser, and they told me what they’d been up to for the last five or six years, the pre-production of this thing. I was going to do whatever it took to be a part of it, but after that conversation, they just basically expressed that they felt like I was the guy. So we moved forward from there.”
On the importance of preparation.
“Preparation is key in this business. Regardless of meeting Harald at the gym—I could meet a million producers, especially being in Los Angeles, you meet them all the time—if you’re not prepared for the opportunities as they come up…they won’t want to work with you. They won’t feel like you can handle the workload. After my meeting with Roland and Harald, they actually went out and looked at ‘Survivor’s Remorse,’ so they’d seen a couple episodes and knew what I was capable of. And it was because of that that I didn’t even need to audition before they offered me the role. They could tell from the material. If you’re not prepared on that level, you just won’t be able to grow in this industry.”
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