Mae Whitman Missing From ‘Independence Day’ Sequel Upsets Fans On Twitter
Actress Mae Whitman is not reprising her role in the upcoming Independence Day sequel and a lot of people on Twitter are not happy about it.
Woah. That was The DUFF aka Mae Whitman in Independence Day? pic.twitter.com/tvTMwEx9xx
— Snot Boogie (@jramjee) May 27, 2015
Past reports of Mae Whitman being replaced in the upcoming sequel to the 1996 Roland Emmerich-directed film first started circulating months ago.
Mae Whitman isn’t in the new Independence Day? https://t.co/eXDmrY7xJG — Dana T. (@troubleverydana) December 14, 2015
I only wish they would’ve brought Ross Bagley and Mae Whitman. I know, I know. It’s a stupid continuity complaint. #ID4
— Adam Hlavac (@adamhlavac) December 13, 2015
In seriousness, Mae Whitman is a fine actress and it’s too bad she doesn’t have the “looks” for an idiotic shoehorned romance subplot. — The Web’s Sam Grady (@TheSamGrady) December 13, 2015
Still a huge bummer Mae Whitman couldn’t have reprised her role like everyone else. That would been cute and smart.
— Hannah S. (@Han_So) December 13, 2015
Mae Whitman played Patricia Whitmore, the only child of U.S. President Thomas Whitmore, in the first film. Even though it was a supporting role in the first film, Patricia will reportedly have a leading role in the follow-up sequel.
However, instead of 27-year-old Mae reprising the role that she brought to the big screen at the age of 8, the studio apparently decided to go with a brand new actress.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed back in April that It Follows actress Maika Monroe was going to star as Patricia Whitmore in Independence Day: Resurgence.
“Fox can’t possibly argue that [Maika] Monroe is worth more at the box-office or that she’s got any sort of following that would make her the clear hire over Whitman. In terms of raw number crunching, [Mae] Whitman’s the safer bet, with a much longer track record to consider. Just on a business level, it seems like Whitman’s the choice. Forget about what’s right or wrong… the bottom line would suggest Whitman is the one you hire. According to the Hollywood Reporter, there was actually a short list of actors, and Whitman wasn’t on that, either. But the oh-so-cute actors whose names were on the list all seem to be more of a conventionally ‘hot’ type than Whitman, making it look clearly like they were chasing a certain something.”
Even though Mae Whitman has not officially come forward with a public statement of her own yet, the longtime actress reportedly re-tweeted Drew’s article, according to E! Online.
Mae’s acting career dates back to the mid-1990s. She made her film debut in 1994 at the age of 6 when she played Meg Ryan’s youngest daughter in the 1994 film, When a Man Loves a Woman. In addition to her supporting role in Independence Day nearly two years later, Mae Whitman also filled up her resume by starring in movies alongside the likes of such actors and actresses as George Clooney and Michelle Pfieffer (One Fine Day), Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick, Jr. (Hope Floats).
Mae Whitman had the chance to experience a more mature acting role in 2009 when she played rebellious teenager Amber Holt on the hit NBC series, Parenthood.
With her expanding resume of roles in television and movies along with her work in voice acting for video games, it is evidently clear that Mae Whitman is definitely not an actress with a limited range of skill or talent.
[Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
