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When it comes to inspirational movie speeches delivered by fictional presidents, there are really just two categories: One is the kind that Bill Pullman gives to rally the troops before hopping in his fighter jet to take down alien spaceships in "Independence Day." The second is every other lame speech ever. Pullman himself attended a screening of the film at Austin's Fantastic Fest on Friday, which featured a "Mystery Science Theater 3000"-style running commentary from local comedy troupe Master Pancake.
The comics were joined during a break by the man who portrayed President Thomas J. Whitmore, reprising his role to take questions from the film's other characters, and, in a bit of had-to-be-there weirdness, a guy dressed as Thomas Jefferson, who insisted that "Independence Day" was his creation.
Asylum caught up with Pullman and asked him to reflect on this most presidential of speeches. Keep reading to see the video and find out how it felt to give the speech for the first time.
"I was actually pretty nervous," Pullman says, "because [producer] Dean Devlin was saying, 'I want to make sure that when we shoot this, that we cut it right away, because we have to convince Fox to keep the title of 'Independence Day.' The studio was starting to float other titles, and they didn't like any other titles, so he told me, 'If this speech works, then the movie has to be 'Independence Day,'" Pullman recalls.
"So I felt like, 'Oh, OK, let's hope the speech is good.' Then, a couple of days later, he came in with a cassette tape -- that's all we had in '95 -- and he said, 'Look at this. Look at how this cut together, Bill.' And I realized, geez, this does get you."
As to why that speech in particular resonates, Pullman has a few ideas. "It's not very macho," he says, "It's not 'Let's go out there and kick ass!' It's not a pump-up sports speech, 'Let's go out there and hunt bears!' It's about standing up for what's right, and appealing to a fierceness that comes from humility, and I always thought that was good."
We knew we'd be remiss if we got the chance to talk to Bill Pullman about "Independence Day'" and didn't ask him to stoke the "ID4-Ever" rumor fires a little. Is the long-discussed sequel even on his radar? "I haven't had a chance to talk to [director] Roland [Emmerich] about it," he says, "But he's always wanted to get back in there. It's a movie that's close to his heart, and I'm sure the story is great. It's difficult to balance the power/money equation."
But if Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich call him about "ID4-Ever," he's definitely picking up. "Unless there's the scene in the end where I come out in the wheelchair," he says. "'Ohhhh, my ancient wisdom to you, what worked so well for me in '95!'
"But if I could fly a fighter plane again," he laughs, "then maybe."