Sigourney Weaver Reflects on Avatar & Alien’s Enduring Legacy

Having been part of two of the most iconic franchises in film history, Sigourney Weaver has come out to share her thoughts on the legacy of the Alien and Avatar series. In a recent discussion, the BAFTA winner opened up about working on the two said pop-culture phenomena. She also suggested that both franchises have redefined cinema in their own way.

Sigourney Weaver says Ripley’s character in Alien ‘was ahead of its time’

During her recent appearance at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, The Defenders star noted that no member of the Alien team expected the 1979 movie to have such an impact on the industry.

“They thought that the audience would never suspect that the young woman was going to be the hero, essentially the survivor,” Sigourney Weaver told The Hollywood Reporter. “So they really did it for story reasons, we weren’t doing it as a big feminist step forward, [although] it did somehow turn out to be that [way].”

Talking about her leading character of Ripley in Alien, Weaver shared, “I realize now that it was ahead of its time, unfortunately, as all movies were back then. But I did love the character of Ripley. It’s amazing to me how influential the character of Ripley has been. I think it’s because she reminds us all that we can rely on ourselves, and we don’t need a man to fly in and save us or some something like that. Because I do feel that women are the glue that holds the world together.”

The veteran actress then switched her attention to the Avatar franchise, which made its theatrical debut in 2009. Since then, the Sam Worthington-led series has spawned two sequels, with two additional installments currently in the pipeline.

Reflecting on her long-term association with Avatar, Weaver said, “We’re now such a family because we’ve worked together twenty years.” She then praised James Cameron for revolutionizing filmmaking with Avatar. The Academy Award nominee stated, “He invented this technology really to let actors be whatever they could be.”

Sigourney Weaver also contended that Cameron “has enhanced the adventure of filmmaking. I look forward to the time when many more filmmakers [use it],” she stated. Weaver also added that Cameron’s methods promise “a much purer experience for the director and the cast.”

Source: Comingsoon.net