Jeff Goldblum reacts emotionally to his and Jude Hirsch Independence Day Farewell scene 28 years later with newfound insight as a father. In Roland Emmerich’s 1996 sci-fi action movie, Goldblum played satellite engineer David Levinson, who is swept up in an extraterrestrial invasion. Levinson would be part of a two-man infiltration mission to bring down the mothership with a computer virus by disrupting their protective shields, opening the ship to a major counterattack.
While promoting his Netflix show KAOSThe actor sat with Vanity Fair to rewatch some of his most iconic roles throughout his career.
As Goldblum observed the farewell between David and his father Julius for the Independence Day In the end, Goldblum found himself overwhelmed as he looked at the 28-year-old scene with a new perspective as a father, before celebrating co-star Hirsch for his previous emotional scenes and cinema’s power to move audiences. Check out Goldblum’s full recollection below:
How sweet. Wow. Now I have children myself, I got a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old. I can’t imagine what it’s like if they took a risk as radical as it seemed, and may have to see them for the last time. It would be excruciating! Excruciating! And I’ll bet – I don’t know the whole story, but I’ll bet we had a good relationship. As you know, we are friends, in the film we play chess all the time, and he cares about me, and I care about him. Gee, I can imagine it being real – what a great dad he is. I’ve known him for a long time, but I love him to pieces, and it’s a sweet moment, and boy you really got me, I don’t know what you’re doing. Why did you do this to me?
Jude Hirsch, you know – I wonder at this moment, when did the common people come out? I’d seen him in many things, including ordinary people, and talked about a shouting match. You see how easy I am and mushy I can be – Jude Hirsch’s character, the doctor, the therapist helps – they need the office, and he’s hysterical, and he has some kind of an epiphany, and he cries and something. And then, Tim Hatton, he says, “Are you my friend?”, and Judd Hirsch says, “About it,” and they hug. It’s just very, very moving. I feel, you know, it’s fun to go to movies that make you cry. And I show movies to my kids, and they see me go “Boohoohoohoo,” and they say, “Da-da, what’s the matter?” you know? I go, “It’s so sad!” So, you know, so I’ll bet a little of that was working on me as I was pretending that he was my father.
The family drama of Independence Day is an underappreciated asset
Emmerich’s family dynamics give the movie greater emotional weight
While a large draw of Independence DayThe lasting appeal is its special effects and bombastic action, the movie wears its heart on its sleeve through its characters. Although his cast consisted of recognizable archetypes that earned some criticism, each of his three leads – Levinson, Captain Hiller (Will Smith), and President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) – have their family lives fleshed out, giving the characters something to protect between the World’s potential end. Viewers watch the families fight against all odds to reunite, making their happy ending worthwhile.
With the movie’s ambition to become a broader franchise, the simpler but serious character dynamics were overlooked.
Arguably, this is also why any attempts to expand the franchise failed, because despite many original cast members reuniting for the 2016 sequel. Independence Day: ResurgenceThe movie has a greater focus on a complex plot, while certain returning stars played a reduced role, or were cut out entirely. Smith’s Hiller and Margaret Colin’s Constance Spano were unceremoniously killed off-screen between movies, while Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) shared only a few scenes with her son, Dylan (Jessie T. Usher), before her death. with Independence Day‘s ambition to become a broad franchise, the simpler but serious character dynamics is overlooked.
While Independence Day has a strong status as an enjoyable film, many may be surprised to see Goldblum have such a strong reaction, as this is not what people typically associate with the film. Although he admits that he is an emotional watcher, his statement is a wonderful exploration of how characters, no matter how recognizable and clear, can still have a powerful effect on viewers. With this new perspective, many will have a greater appreciation of the movie going forward.
Source: Vanity Fair