Jessie Usher didn't feel too much pressure joining the Independence Day sequel because the original cast were "so embracing" of newcomers.

The Survivor's Remorse actor was cast as Dylan, the stepson of Will Smith's military hero Steven Hiller, alongside fellow new castmembers Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe and Joey King, and older actors Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Vivica A. Fox, who returned to the sequel after a 20 year break.

Jessie could have felt pressure joining the original cast and stepping into Will's shoes, but he was put at ease by the returning faces and director Roland Emmerich.

"I think the way Roland facilitated this for me and the way the cast of the original film was so embracing, I think they kind of took the pressure off and just allowed me to come in and do my thing," Jessie said to Digitalspy.com.

"As for the character, there's a little bit of pressure on him. Everyone's looking at him and saying, 'Your dad saved the world – what are you going to do?'"

In Resurgence, Will's character Steven is now dead, but Dylan has continued his military legacy by becoming a pilot and a captain of the Earth Space Defense (ESD), an early warning system for alien attacks.

Despite the job similarities, Jessie insists the team were determined to make Dylan his own person rather than a copy of Steven.

"After speaking to Roland Emmerich and the other writers, they really want to carve this character out of a different mould and have him stand out on his own," Jessie continued. "He's very different from the Steven Hiller character...

"Just growing up in that military household he's become very serious and very prepared – he's always alert. He's had to grow up pretty fast. Dylan's his own man."

Roland had originally hoped Will would return for the new movie, but said in 2013 that the actor had become "too expensive". His character's death was written into the script to explain his absence.

Independence Day: Resurgence will be released on 24 June in the U.S. and 23 June (16) in the U.K.