“I just can’t”: the nonsensical 2016 movie Susan Sarandon wanted no part of
Susan Sarandon is an actor who hasn’t been given the respect that she deserves by the industry, despite having an amazing career filled with classic performances.
While she has been acting since the 1970s cult classic Joe and picked up an Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’ for her heartbreaking performance in Dead Man Walking, Sarandon hasn’t been active in recent years, which she credits to Hollywood’s hesitancy to hire any stars who have actively been in support of Palestine.
The unfortunate reality is that Hollywood does not do an adequate job at offering roles to older women, as female actors cease to have value to executives once they pass a certain age – although there have been other pro-Palestine actors who have continued to get work, such as Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, Sarandon has been unfairly snubbed of these opportunities, but unfortunately, the rare instances in which she is offered a part tend to be opportunities that she has no interest in.
Sarandon revealed that she had been offered an opportunity to appear in Independence Day: Resurgence, the long-anticipated sequel to Roland Emmerich’s 1996 summer blockbuster classic, but turned it down.
“When I read the script, I couldn’t understand what was going on,” Sarandon said, adding, “I just couldn’t understand it… Seriously – a lot of the people from the original one were not going to be doing it, and I read it, and I just thought, ‘No. I can’t. I just can’t'”… Sarandon has been adamant that she is not retired and still seeks out work, but has been hesitant to sign on to films that she doesn’t have any confidence in.
“Occasionally you’ll get an offer with a huge amount of money, and it’s almost sure that it’s going to be terrible,” Sarandon declared.
“I’ve been offered a few disaster movies that I just didn’t think I could do with a straight face. I don’t have anything against them, but when I read them, I was just like, ‘Ugh.’”
Susan Sarandon
Sarandon’s instincts served her well because Independence Day: Resurgence is perhaps the worst major blockbuster sequel of its decade, which is no small statement. It’s remarkable that, in just two decades, Emmerich had forgotten everything that made the first film great and decided to make a miserable, dull slog with no sense of optimism or whimsy.
Sarandon was correct in pointing out that several of the original film’s cast returned for the sequel, but there was a big exception in the case of its biggest star. Will Smith did not appear in Independence Day: Resurgence, which doomed the project from the beginning; Smith’s charisma had powered the original film to blockbuster heights, and the sequel didn’t have anyone in the cast who had the same star power. Even Jeff Goldblum, a frequent co-star of Sarandon’s, didn’t have much to do.
While it is unfortunate that Sarandon’s career opportunities are being erased by both her political beliefs and old-fashioned Hollywood sexism, she has had some notable roles in recent years that serve as a reminder of what a talent she has always been. She gave one of her best recent performances last year in the Netflix dramedy Nonnas alongside Vince Vaughn and Lorraine Bracco, which earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for ‘Best Television Movie’.
