Romulus Star Says She Could ‘Never Be’ Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley

Alien: Romulus has very quickly rocketed up the list of most anticipated movies of 2024 following the release of its first teaser, and now star Cailee Spaeny has shared her thoughts on the daunting task of honoring the franchise’s most iconic character; Ellen Ripley.

Fans have been waiting a long time for a new addition to the Alien franchise. Since the IP became part of the Disney family, many fans have aired their fears of the property becoming “Disneyfied.” However, the release of Predator prequel, Prey, alleviated some worries about the franchise being pushed back into the PG-13 arena of the Alien vs. Predator movies, and the recent first look at director Fede Alvarez’s movie sealed the deal that this will be a terrifying and tense Alien outing.

For star Spaeny, the biggest challenge is stepping into the metaphorical shoes of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. Speaking to Total Film about one moment from the trailer, which sees her character holding a pulse rifle while waiting to face whatever creature lurks nearby, the actress said:

“I definitely did everything that I could to bring that character to life. Watching Sigourney play that role – she’s part of the changing of the game that those films did. I could never be her. But I injected whatever I have in me into that character, and tried to make it three-dimensional – as three-dimensional as possible. So I hope that that’s there, and it comes alive.”

Alien: Romulus is the “Child” of the Original Alien Movies

One thing that is clear about Alien: Romulus is that fans of both Alien and Aliens will not be disappointed by the effort that has gone into bringing the best of both movies to Alvarez’s foray into the Alien universe. Spaeny really feels that the new film leans into Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie and James Cameron’s 1986 sequel, which caused her to “nerd out” during filming. She continued:

“I had to turn off my ‘nerding out’ brain, because I was just like, ‘Wow, it’s beautiful. Ooh, you put the Giger skull…’ I had to turn that off, but it was properly scary. We set it between the first movie and the second. We were talking about, ‘How could this be a child of the two?’ So we have those heightened moments, but then proper horror.”

Additionally, the creative team that brought the Xenomorphs to live so exquisitely in Aliens returned to work on Alien: Romulus, something that Spaeny found so amazing to be part of. She said:

“We used practical effects. We had the same people who worked on Aliens. They came back. They were there making the Xenomorph. This is a creature that they have so much love for. We had puppeteers working on the face-hugger. So to see that – it all felt so alive.”

Related

‘Nothing Beats the Real Thing’: Alien: Romulus Director Reveals He Built Every Creature and Set for the Film

Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez has a ‘no green screen’ obsession and relied heavily on practical effects.

This year, there are several big movie sequels that have been making use of practical effects, including Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and it is proving to be a popular decision among moviegoers, who seem to be all for seeing something tangible on screen rather than completely CGI created. Alien: Romulus will seemingly be another movie this year that will showcase exactly what practical effects are capable of, and will attempt to breath new life into the 45-year-old franchise.