“I went full action Hero in this!”

Jessie Usher is Dylan Hiller Is Dylan in the shadow of Steven Hiller?

My dad was a war hero. He wasn’t just a war hero of the country, he was a war hero of the world. Dylan grew up in the limelight of his father and had to deal with this enormous amount of popularity and stardom. He joined the military, so he’s got the pressure of what his dad did 20 years ago hovering over him. But at the same time it doesn’t necessarily bother him. He’s proud to be taking the torch.

And do you feel in the shadow of Will Smith?

Absolutely. You know, Will Smith is a powerhouse of an actor and there’s a little bit of the passing of the torch there too. I wish I’d had a chance to speak with Will and get a little pep talk but hopefully that’ll come one day!

Does anything in your performance echo Will’s?

Very, very loosely. There are very subtle things… I don’t know how closely people will be paying attention but I actually wear the watch that he wore in the original film. But we wanted to make sure that he’s his own person.

Roland’s got a reputation as a master of spectacle, but what does he give to his actors?

From the day that I met Roland up until the day I wrapped on the film he was so heavily invested in the relationships between the characters. His films are such huge spectacles that it’d be easy for characters to get lost in all that.

Do you get to go full Top Gun?

Yeah, pretty much! There’s a lot of crazy flying sequences, running, screaming, climbing, shooting, everything… I went full action hero in this. It was great!