Meeting Jeff Goldblum in the plush surrounds of ThEATre by Rhodes at Vox Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, it quickly becomes apparent that his huge on-screen presence is not something that disappears when the cameras stop rolling. To describe the Hollywood star as a powerful personality would be something of an understatement. In fact, not long into the conversation, tables are turned and it’s unclear exactly who is interviewing whom – Goldblum wants to know: Where am I from? Do I like Dubai? Do I have family?
Goldblum, as it happens, does – he recently had his first child at the sprightly age of 63. “He was born on July 4, Independence Day, last year, while we were shooting the movie,” he states proudly, producing a picture on his smartphone.
“It’s his 11-month birthday today. Charlie he’s called, Charlie Ocean. Born on the Fourth of July. What are the chances of that? After all these years, to have him on that day in that year, while we were shooting the movie. It’s incredible.”
Since his 1974 debut with a small part in Michael Winner's classic Death Wish, Goldblum has become something of a specialist in the sci-fi arena in the course of a career that has spanned almost 100 movies. He frequently plays some form of scientist or geek, and has successfully split his time between blockbusters such as Jurassic Park and Independence Day, and quirkier underground movies such as David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986), the 1978 B-movie remake Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the bizarre 1984 sci-fi comedy The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!.
But Goldblum insists he doesn’t seek out these sorts of roles. “I’m not really a careerist or a strategist. From the start, when I wanted to be an actor, I didn’t really want anything from it other than to love the experience and have a passionate adventure, and that’s what’s guided my whole journey,” he says. “Choosing films has just been a question of what do I want to do now, and who’s exciting to me, and what story’s exciting to me, and what parts are exciting to me – and it’s been like that. You know it when you see it. I’ve been lucky. I’ve gotten to do good things and a variety of things, and I get to keep doing them. I’m very grateful and very happy.”
He is also a great lover of movies, even when he’s not filming them, and says he likes “something that really surprises me, that’s really unlike anything I’ve seen before. Usually something to do with a human story”, before turning interrogator again and asking for some of my recent favourites, then giving his opinion on some of my selections.
"I loved Anomolisa, it was a lovely movie. That quirky movie, The Lobster, too – John C Reilly and Rachel Weisz – that was interesting. I liked Under the Skin a lot, and his [director Jonathan Glazer] other movie, Sexy Beast, that was great, too, but Under the Skin, yes – I liked that movie a lot. I love the way they shot that movie. Some of those scenes, they just put invisible cameras in the car, you know, and had her driving around talking to real people. I'm very interested in that kind of filmmaking. I should see that again. It Follows I loved, too – Maika Monroe is wonderful in that, but wait until you see her in this movie, you haven't seen her in this yet, she's great."
Monroe offers an opportunity to bring us back to the topic of Independence Day: Resurgence, and I ask whether the 20-year gap since the original film was made required the sequel to be faithful to the original or allowed the team free rein to start from scratch.
Goldblum, as always, has his own take on the question.
“I’m kind of a free spirit anyway, as you can maybe tell,” he says. “Roland [Emmerich, the director] and the producers definitely felt responsible, though – they didn’t want to just cash in on the first one. They wanted to satisfy people’s interest and catch some of the spirit of the first one, but also make something surprising and, hopefully, even better than the first one. Roland is fantastic and there’s a great cast, too. Liam Hemsworth’s a wonderful actor and we had a lot of laughs together. And we’ve got Charlotte Gainsbourg, too – how about that? I love her so much in all those Lars von Trier movies, talking of films we love.
“The film just got finished, like a week ago, and not many people have seen it yet, but I’m one of the lucky ones and I think you might like it. I love it.”
• Independence Day: Resurgence opens in cinemas on Wednesday, July 6
� cnewbould@thenational.ae
