Major blockbusters have often been pioneering when it comes to casting our country’s president. It happened in 1998 with President Beck (Morgan Freeman) in Deep Impact and now we will have a woman as the POTUS in Independence Day 2 where Sela Ward (Gone Girl) will play the Commander in Chief. Ward previously worked with director Roland Emmerich on the natural disaster adventure The Day After Tomorrow (2004). She’s best known for her TV work, playing Stacy Warner on House M.D. and Jo Danville on CSI: NY.

This casting announcement is the latest for the alien invasion sequel. Last week, Fox announced that Maika Monroe (It Follows) will replace Mae Whitman as former-President Whitmore’s (Bill Pullman) daughter, Patricia Whitmore. Vivica A. Fox is also coming back for the project, though her on-screen husband, Will Smith, is not. In Independence Day, President Whitmore took to the skies to lead the climactic attack on the alien ship so we can’t help but wonder if Ward will also play a hands-on role to take down the invaders.

Ward’s most recent project was as TV journalist Sharon Schieber in last year’s Gone Girl. Independence Day 2 is set to release June 24, 2016, just ahead of the real Independence Day.