Liam Hemsworth was thrilled to be cast in the 20-years-later sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, since the 1996 original film was one of his childhood favourites. "I was 6 or 7 years old when I first watched it," he says. "My brothers had it on VHS videotape, and I sneaked in and watched it with them. As the youngest brother, I was probably the craziest out of all three of us. My uncles called me 'devil child' and said that I needed to be exorcised!"

Independence Day: Resurgence'Independence Day: Resurgence' stars Liam Hemsworth and Jeff Goldblum

In the sequel, he plays Jake Morrison, whose parents were killed during the events of the first movie. "He grew up in an orphanage," Hemsworth explains, "joined the military and became one of the best-of-the-best fighter pilots. Then he makes a bad decision and ends up being demoted to the moon where he drives a tug, essentially the same as a forklift."

The highlight of making the movie was the chance to work alongside the first film's star Jeff Goldblum. "I have a lot of stuff to do with Jeff's character in this," he says. "Jeff Goldblum's amazing. He's one of my favourite people I've ever met. He's just so passionate. You turn up to set every day, and he just fuels everyone with happiness and energy. It's a good time working with him."

Watch the trailer for 'Independence Day: Resurgence' here:


 

That on-set atmosphere helped Hemsworth cope with his first time working in on empty set surrounded by green screens. "It's kind of a different process than anything I've ever done before, because it's a lot of imagining what's happening, filling in the blanks," he says. "But we had a lot of fun in the moon tug!"

For his part, Goldblum admits that he enjoyed the challenge of getting back into the role of scientist David Levinson. "Twenty years is a long time to stay attached to a character," he says. "Before we started shooting for this film, I revisited my character and it was educational, enlightening and really fascinating."

He also thinks playing David has changed him. "I've become more appreciative of this beautiful planet since I played the character in the first film," he adds. "It has made me more caring towards life and thankful for the opportunity of being present on this planet."

While filming, the cast discussed the possibility of returning for another sequel. "Yes, we talked about it," Hemsworth says. "I don't think it's happening anytime soon, but it'd be a lot of fun to do one day."