Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum Have “Independence Day ”Reunion Ahead of Film's 30th Anniversary

Virginia ChamleeThu, May 14, 2026 at 8:26 PM UTC

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Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum
Credit: Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty -

Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman reunited at the Dior 2027 Cruise Collection Show in Los Angeles on May 13, 2026

Independence Day will celebrate its 30th anniversary on July 3, 2026, after becoming a blockbuster hit in 1996

Vivica A. Fox claimed the 2016 sequel lacked the success of the original due to Will Smith not returning

David Levinson and President Whitmore have reunited.

Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman — who played two of the characters in Independence Day— were seen sharing a hug and a laugh at the Dior 2027 Cruise Collection Show held at LACMA on May 13, 2026, in Los Angeles.

Their reunion comes three decades after both actors appeared in the action-packed film, which will officially celebrate its 30th anniversary on July 3, 2026.

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Independence Day / Bill Pullman / Jeff Goldblum
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Independence Day starred Will Smith as Capt. Steven Hiller, a fighter pilot who plays a key role in saving the world from an alien takeover.

The film was written in three weeks, pitched and approved in a few days and shot largely in the span of just a few months.

Goldblum, 73, appeared as tech wiz David Levinson in Independence Day and later in the sequel. Pullman appeared as the President of the United States, at one point giving an impassioned speech to his country before launching "the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind" (a speech he parodied for Budweiser in a 2021 ad to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccines).

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Pullman later reprised his role as President Whitmore in the 2016 sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence.

Vivica A. Fox also appeared in both the original and the sequel, but told AV Club in an earlier interview she felt 2016's Independence Day: Resurgence wasn't as good because Smith was not in it.

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While director Roland Emmerich and several other cast members returned, Smith did not reprise his role as Capt. Steven Hiller.

"I just didn't feel like it was good and it lived up to the first one," Fox said in 2023. "I really feel we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back."

"We had most of the original cast on, but I think the one true link that was missing to the success of Independence Day 2 was that Will Smith wasn't there," she continued.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”