10 Things You Didn’t Know About Independence Day
8. Robert Loggia Thought It Was A Spoof
Once shooting for the film was underway, everything didn't exactly go to plan. Notably, producer and writer Dean Devlin accidentally upset actor Robert Loggia, who portrays the President's trusty ally General William Grey in the film. On one particular day, Loggia was refusing to leave his trailer because he was convinced that he'd unwillingly ended up in a spoof movie.
This misunderstanding about the tone of Independence Day came from Devlin. He had suggested a few days earlier that Loggia watch the film Airplane!, the famous wacky comedy starring Leslie Nielsen - for inspiration. Devlin had meant to suggest the 1970 disaster movie Airport, but had got his wires crossed and unknowingly convinced Loggia that he was in a silly spoof movie and not a serious action film.
Of course, this falls under the category of funny mishap rather than major disaster. Roland Emmerich was notified about Loggia's upset stance, and presumably stepped in to set the record straight. In the end, the actor gave a memorable performance which proved that military characters in action films don't have to be dullards.
7. Kevin Spacey Was Meant To Play The President
Here's a strange quirk of fate. A decade and a bit before he wowed Netflix viewers as House Of Cards' President Frank Underwood, Kevin Spacey nearly landed the role of President Thomas Whitmore in Independence Day.
The reason Mr Spacey was considered for Independence Day was because President Whitmore was initially intended as a harsher, Richard Nixon-like figure. Writer/producer Dean Devlin thought that his old high school buddy Kevin Spacey would be perfect for that sort of part. (Which, of course, House Of Cards eventually proved to be a solid assumption.)
But Fox apparently didn't believe back in the 1990s that Kevin Spacey had the potential in him to be a big film star. They cast Bill Pullman against Devlin's initial wishes, and the part was rewritten to accommodate this new actor's skill-set. President Whitmore became a softer character, and Pullman pulled this off rather nicely with a likeable family-man leader of the United States.