During the recent talks of the sequel to the 1996 blockbuster ‘Independence Day’, it has been revealed that while Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, who have both expressed interest in the project, are expected to return, Will Smith most definitely will not. Despite the biggest star of the film not returning for ‘Independence Day 2’ (or ‘ID Forever: Part One’, depending on if the studio allows the proposed 2 sequels), director Roland Emmerich has said that at least half of the cast from the first film appears in the script, meaning that the other half will be brand new. And according to a new report, one of those new characters will be gay.

Emmerich, who is openly gay and an LGBT activist, was asked if the hot topic of gay rights would be incorporated into his films in the future. The director responded by saying, “Actually in the next ‘Independence Day’ there is a gay character”. When pressed for more details, he kept quiet on the matter, but hopefully this new character will be part of the main or supporting cast as opposed to a background player. You can see how the interview played out in the video below

 

As it was pointed out, Emmerich has included various aspects of politics in some of his filmography already, but the director indicated that he’d like to work on a film some day about the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York, which saw police raid an East Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. In a quote from Empire Magazine, he said, “It’s one of these civil rights moments, like Rosa Parks, and very little is known about it. Even gay people don’t know much about it.”

Almost any other day, this news wouldn’t exactly get picked up by the news outlets, but seeing as the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage is currently in the news, I can understand why The Huffington Post and The Hollywood Reporter are jumping all over it. As for me, I’m glad that movies are becoming more diverse and more willing to include all different types of people. While there’s still a way to go to get some groups properly represented in Hollywood (like Asian Americans, for example), there are some out there like Roland Emmerich who are taking steps in the right direction.

‘Independence Day 2’ is currently scheduled to be released on July 3, 2015.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter