Sigourney Weaver was a rising theater star in the 1970s when she booked the role of Ripley in Ridley Scott’s “Alien.” This part was initially given to Veronica Cartwright, but once Scott got a load of Weaver’s sui generis mix of toughness and vulnerability, he couldn’t envision anyone else playing the film’s sole human survivor.
In time, Weaver’s Ripley became one of the most compelling genre heroes in film history. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress as a hardened, kill-’em-all Ripley in James Cameron’s “Aliens” and should’ve flat-out won an Oscar for her portrayal of the character as a defiant, grief-stricken fighter speeding toward a chest-burster death in David Fincher’s magnificent “Alien 3.” Weaver deserved a more coherent fourth go-round in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Alien: Resurrection,” but she’s terrific as a Xenomorph-enhanced, kinda kinky Ripley.
Weaver hasn’t made an onscreen return to the “Alien” franchise since that 1997 box office disappointment, but she’s still paying attention to the universe that launched her career — and she’s pleased with how it’s being handled. While promoting Bryan Fuller’s new horror film, “Dust Bunny,” at the Toronto International Film Festival, Weaver issued a full-throated endorsement to Noah Hawley’s divisive “Alien: Earth” (which /Film’s Chris Evangelista called a “slog”). “I’m really enjoying it,” she said. Why is she down with Hawley’s vision?
Sigourney Weaver can’t believe she’s watching a televised Alien series
The series, which mixes up Xenomorphs with hybrids and cyborgs (while departing from franchise canon), has been provoking animated, occasionally furious discussion on social media. It makes you wonder what the franchise’s creators, Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, would’ve thought of Hawley’s approach. Sadly, that’s a very long-distance phone call, so, aside from Scott (who’s a producer on the show), the most valued voice in the “Alien” discourse belongs to Weaver. And, sorry haters, she is so very on board.
“What I admire about it is the scope is so much more profound than just an ‘Alien’ movie,” said Weaver. “It’s about our world and what’s dominating the world in 100 years, and to me it’s right on.” She’s especially impressed by Hawley’s world-building expertise and how he’s found ways to unnerve viewers that have little to do with the Xenomorphs. “[T]he monsters that he’s also bringing in are just terrifying. It’s like, we don’t have enough problems with the alien, we need 50 more. I can’t believe I’m watching TV.”
But you are watching TV, Ms. Weaver, and I guarantee you that Hawley is thrilled to have your endorsement. This inevitably leads us to the next question: would you be open to reprising your role as Ripley in some off-canon manner? It’s been almost 30 years. The Xenomorphs, who are newly capable of being scared, miss you.
