Page 69 - Will Smith: A Biography of a Rapper Turned Movie Star

Bad Boys and Alien Invaders
69
Independence Day is filled with special effects, drama,
and some wise-guy humor. When Smith’s character,
Captain Steve Hiller, is called to the rescue, he boasts that
he is off to “kick ET’s butt.” At one point in the movie, he
punches out an evil alien, saying with a deadpan
expression, “Welcome to earth.”
To prepare for the role in Independence Day, Smith met
with a marine lieutenant to study the basic technique of
flying an F-16. The marines let him try their virtual-reality
simulator, which gave Smith the experience of flying a
fighter jet while never leaving the ground. He again worked
with a personal trainer to become more muscular.
The filming of Independence Day provided some real
challenges. The first day of shooting took place in the summer
of 1995 in one of the hottest places on earth—the Bonneville
Salt Flats in the desert near the Utah–Nevada border. The
daytime temperature there averaged 120 F.
The acting for this movie was tricky, too. Sometimes
Smith’s character appears in scenes with the aliens. However,
the aliens were actually computer-generated and added to
the movie after the scenes were filmed. So when Captain
Steve Hiller is supposed to be interacting with an alien,
Smith was filmed standing by himself and talking to a mark
on the ground. Later, the alien would be placed on that mark.
Acting opposite a blank space was a challenge for Smith.
Once he was finished filming Independence Day, Smith had
to wrap up the last episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After
the final show was taped in March 1996, the cast celebrated