Roland Emmerich is a world-class movie director with many hits on his resume. Currently the director of the lavish Columbia Pictures Elizabethan action-drama Anonymous, Emmerich enjoys the distinction of having racked up worldwide box office receipts of more than $3 billion during his career.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany Nov. 10, 1955, Emmerich extended his interest in films by attending The University of Television and Film Munich. He impressed his professors by writing and directing The Noah’s Ark Principle, for his thesis. Instead of the usual short film most students produced, his film was a full-length feature.
Working and producing films in Germany, he impressed Hollywood producer Mario Kassar, who invited him to the United States to direct a film that didn’t get off the ground. Eventually Emmerich was signed in 1992 to direct Universal Soldier, which became a hit and spawned several sequels and video versions.
His big break came in 1996 when he directed the science fiction blockbuster Independence Day with Will Smith. It became one of the most financially successful films of the 1990s and earned more than $100 million during its first week of release.
Although he had European roots, Emmerich was asked to direct the very American Revolutionary War epic, The Patriot, which became another hit. Following that action-drama he directed a disaster film about the impending ice age, The Day After Tomorrow.
His latest film, Anonymous, has already stirred up controversy because of its twisting and re-writing of history. Emmerich says of the film, “It’s an historical thriller because it’s about who will succeed Queen Elizabeth and the struggle of the people who want to have a hand in it. Through that story we tell how the plays written by the Earl of Oxford ended up labeled ‘William Shakespeare.’ Most historians say the film is totally inaccurate and preposterous. But in its defense, it is merely a tall tale with the intention of entertaining and not teaching.”
A Renaissance man, Emmerich is a collector of art and has decorated his Hollywood home with many objects depicting unusual and controversial subjects. He has never hidden his gay sexuality and is a proud member of the gay community. He is an activist and supporter of the gay and lesbian community both in Hollywood and around the world. In one instance, he donated $150,000 to the Legacy Project to preserve lesbian and gay films. Politically active as well, he hosted a fund raiser for Hillary Clinton during her Democratic bid for the presidency.
Not one to let racism pass by him without standing up and making it known how he feels, Emmerich had a run-in with the producers of Independence Day, who were originally against casting Will Smith. Encountering homophobia from some producers, he was and still is very vocal in his opposition to their prejudices. Roland Emmerich is not only a man of talent, but he is a man of principle.
