Fast Five with Maika Monroe
She's Liam Hemsworth love interest in Independence Day: Resurgence, but it's co-star Jeff Goldblum who sent her heart aflutter.
FACT FILE
NAME Dillon Monroe Buckley
BORN May 29, 1993, Santa Barbara, California, USA
FILMOGRAPHY At Any Price (2012), The Bling Ring (2013), Labor Day (2014), The Guest (2014), It Follows (2014), The 5th Wave (2016), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
1 NAME GAME
The 23-year-old US actress loved the sound of the name "Maika", so she adopted it at an early age after learning from her mother that it was her parents' first choice before they decided on Dillon. She has since legally changed her first name to Maika.
2 SCREAM QUEEN
Following her chilling performances in psychological thriller The Guest and supernatural horror flick It Follows, the US media promptly crowned Monroe the new "Scream Queen", a label the pretty blonde did not identify with.
"I do like the (horror) genre but that was not planned at all," she told Us Weekly. "These are probably the two horror movies I'll do, but then again I can't say never."
3 SWITCHING GEARS
Monroe is dabbling in sci-fi now with Roland Emmerich's Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel to his 1996 blockbuster.
In the movie, which opens here tomorrow, she plays Patricia Whitmore, the tough cookie daughter of former US President Whitmore (Bill Pullman), who now works in the White House for the current head of state.
Monroe's casting caused a slight online stir as fans questioned why Mae Whitman, who portrayed Patricia in the original, did not reprise her role.
"I was like, 'Why are you guys doing this? You're creating a problem and it's so not necessary'. I was bummed about that," Monroe told MTV, adding that she chooses to ignore the backlash over the replacement.
4 LOVE INTEREST
Monroe is also the love interest of Aussie hunk Liam Hemsworth's pilot protagonist Jake, but it was another co-star - veteran US actor Jeff Goldblum - who sent her heart aflutter.
A fan of the original movie, Monroe told MTV that her most surreal moments were having conversations with Goldblum, who returns as scientist-computer expert-environmental activist David Levinson.
"He'd tell stories, sing and play lots of games. And there was (tap) dancing!"
5 SUN AND SURF
Prior to becoming an actress, Monroe was a ranked competitive freestyle kiteboarder. Her dad taught her the sport when she was 13, and at 17, she moved to the Dominican Republic to train as a pro.
She will be putting her skills to good use in the upcoming The Tribes Of Palos Verde, a drama about a California beach community, which also stars Jennifer Garner and Tye Sheridan.
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