Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of Aliens. In a new interview with Moviefone, Sigourney Waever, the film’s star, and one of the biggest female action heroes in history, had some things to say about women in action today.
Weaver, who established her scifi-action cred with the role of Ripley in the Alien series, was asked about the status of women in action movies, and why we don’t see many in high-profile roles.
Here’s what she said in response:
I think a lot of it has gone into comic books, and to me, in comic books, it’s all about the men — and because they were written in the 50s and 60s especially. It just wasn’t where it was at for those writers and there’s only so many band-aids you can put on that to make it relevant for today’s society. There are gorgeous, occasionally kick-ass characters like Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2, but in general I don’t think those guys were thinking about women in those ways. I think as long as Hollywood is doing that, there won’t be these amazing action-women characters.
What’s so exciting about women in action is that women bring a different focus to the action and it comes from a different source. I love all the performances you mention [Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman], I think they are all terrific and I wish we could see more of them. Every woman you see, in her kitchen or wherever else, has a secret action heroine in her; just wait till something happens to her children or husband, then you’ll see it.
In news that surprises absolutely no one, Sigourney Weaver is still a badass. On the future of women in film, she said:
I think everything is going to change, we’re going to have a big revolution. I’m sure we’re going to see, even in very real films, women being much more physical and just being the kick-ass women that they are. Then they don’t have to be in outer space, it will be contemporary — look out!
She also comments that, on the off-chance that anyone ever decides to make another Alien movie involving her character, she’d be up for kicking some alien ass again.
