Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney
Weaver had her screen debut in 1977 in Woody Allen’s Annie
Hall. Her screen time is generally considered to be a mere
six seconds. That work was worth 50 dollars. Two years later
for Alien,
where she stole the show, she received $30 000. We also know
that for Alien: Resurrection in 1997, her paycheck was
$11,000,000. Not too bad for a career plan, monetary-wise.
Someone with time on his or her hands can probably deduce that it qualifies
for
a 200,000% pay increase in 20 years!
It’s not surprising to claim that Sigourney Weaver is a genuine Scream Queen or Cult Siren, considering her participation in the Alien franchise, playing the immortal role of Lt. Ellen Ripley (and don’t forget her presence in the short Ghostbusters series). But here is a Siren a bit different than some others (not that she’s unattractive, far from it): let’s admit that Ripley is an action character and not a mere decorative bimbo. There are not many American actresses who had the chance to get good main roles in adventure movies. Just only recently, the market has begun to accept such productions with female action players, like Elektra, Ultra Violet, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, etc.
Susan
Alexandra Weaver was born in New York City on October 8, 1949,
daughter of Sylvester Weaver and Elizabeth Inglis (a British actress
that played in
a handful of films in the thirties). Sylvester was at some point president
of NBC Television and it’s common to credit him with the invention
of the conventional talk-show, The Tonight Show in particular,
still airing today. One of Sigourney’s uncles, Doodles Weaver,
was a veteran actor with a flair for comedy (who actually committed
suicide years later). So, the influence of an artistic
family is not to be forgotten in Sigourney’ future career. Already
very tall at age 13, the young girl got picked on and teased by
her schoolmates. She retaliated by becoming a sort of class clown.
What is the origin of the Sigourney name? She decided to adopt it after reading The Great Gatsby at the age of 14, as it is one of the character's name. In fact, her father wanted her at first to be named Flavia. At the famous Yale School of Drama, Sigourney shared some classes with Meryl Streep. At some point in the early seventies, she seemingly lived in a treehouse! She took part in some Greek tragedies, Japanese Noh plays and would be soon seen on television screens for the Somerset soap opera, while playing some experimental theater off Broadway. Soon came that screen debut and its easy $50 benefit. Her first main role: Madman, telling the story of a Jewish Russian soldier who goes AWOL.
Then
came
Alien, where she actually got the Ripley role from already
cast fellow actress Veronica Cartwright (the only other female role).
Let’s see, Sigourney is 5' 11½", with an aura
of sexy intelligence and presence, so I still can’t really picture
eternal victim Cartwright in the Ripley part. The character was saluted
by critics and audience alike, even with a finale which found her wearing
thin underwear while battling a cranky alien monster. In 1979, Alien’s
power was its cast of unknown and/or character actors, which resulted
in the unpredictability of its outcome. And there are those unforgettable
Ridley Scott visuals. To think that it’s a remake of a 1958 B-movie,
It! The Terror from Beyond Space…
Consequently, interesting and big-budget offers came Sigourney’s way, like Eyewitness and The Year of Living Dangerously. With Ghostbusters’ success in 1984, we could admire a possessed and malevolent Sigourney going all satanical in the fiery finale. A French movie with Gérard Depardieu, Une femme ou deux, probably looked original on paper but was not necessarily the best idea ever, even with tiny Dr. Ruth’s acting debut! Still, Sigourney spoke her own French dialogue. Around that time, she wed Jim Simpson, a stage director. They had a daughter, Charlotte, in 1990.
Ripley
was back for Aliens in 1986, an amazing tour-de-force
for Sigourney Weaver, a mix of breathtaking action and credible character
development. She was even compared to the then current male action heroes,
like Schwarzenegger and Stallone. She even got nominated for an Academy
Award, quite an
accomplishment
for a science-fiction picture. In 1989 she got two more nominations,
Best Actress for Gorillas in the Mist, Best
Supporting Actress for
Working Girl. As is the tradition in such a dilemma,
she won neither one. She became a supporter of the Dian Fossey Gorilla
Fund
after
her
involvement in
Gorillas in the Mist.
Alien3 didn’t get the expected success and was demolished by critics, even with our actress proving her fortitude by completely shaving her head for the role (and for posterity). It was feared that the series was to be cancelled. Meanwhile, Sigourney easily played in comedies (Dave), psychological dramas (Death and the Maiden) or even thrillers (Copycat). Oddly, her choice of clothing for gala premieres remained contradictory, as she could be most elegant on a given night, or not properly attired the next.
1997
is considered an excellent year for Sigourney: Alien Resurrection
was a pretty good box-office success (I just adored her interpretation
of a Ripley clone), The Ice Storm got her the best
reviews of her career and Snow White: A Tale of Terror was
a surprise as she played the heroine’s evil and jealous godmother.
That version would have given nightmares to Uncle Walt. It's ironic
to note that her salary for Alien: Resurrection was
more than the entire cost of the
first Alien movie!
Sigourney continued to take part in genre films, mainly for the comedy Galaxy Quest (even as a blonde…) and The Village. For a sexy role, Heartbreakers remains memorable. Amazing to think that she will be sixty in only two years. Can I still repeat myself? She doesn’t seem to age a bit! It is now rumored that one of her next project will be playing Gypsy Rose Lee in a television production.
Also, she
is included in the cast of James Cameron's next project, Avatar,
ten years after Titanic. Let's also note that she inspired
a comic book character, Legs Weaver, a science-fiction lesbian! Sigourney
could have been part of X-Men: The Last Stand, alongside
fellow Sirens Halle Berry and Famke
Janssen, as she was considered to be cast as Emma Frost the White
Queen in early production meetings. Still, Sigourney continues to work
regularly on screen, alongside her environmentalist status.
At the peak of her popularity, nobody remained indifferent to Sigourney: you just loved her or hated her. We can only salute her for having played meaty role all along her career, in a world when such parts are not frequently proposed to actresses. If I remember well, Femme Fatales magazine named her their top Scream Queen a few years back… how could I not do the same?
