Noomi Rapace: The outer-space girl

When Ridley Scott needed a no-nonsense, hard-as-nails heroine for Alien back in 1979, he turned to a relative unknown, a young actress called Sigourney Weaver. The rest, as they say, is history. Fast-forward 32 years and the same dilemma presented itself to the director when making Prometheus, his return to the Alien universe. The film's lead role, the embattled scientist Elizabeth Shaw, needed to be filled by an actress who could combine intelligence, flintiness, a penchant for action scenes and a rare vulnerability. Not easy criteria.

But then he saw the Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and realised, in its star Noomi Rapace, that he had found his leading lady. The 32-year-old Swede's portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in that film brought her to Hollywood's attention, with Prometheus representing the biggest role so far in a career that's only certain to become more impressive. We spoke to Rapace on the film's set about the delicate balance between action and science for Shaw, working with Sir Ridley, and following in Sigourney Weaver's giant footsteps…

Who is Elizabeth Shaw?

I think that Elizabeth has been alone since an early age, growing up without parents. Her father died when she was quite young. She is a believer and she has an inner strength. The interesting thing is that she's going through a lot of tough things in the movie, but her inner power keeps growing. I think everybody senses that if they were in a hard situation, they would have two choices: you can lose faith, stop believing, see things from a very dark perspective and go down a destructive road. Or, you can shape up and decide to find a deeper meaning - going further into ‘why?' - and if you can find the answer to that, it will make you stronger. So I think it's a conversation between Shaw and her makers but also in another way, probably between not good and evil, but the darker side in you and the lighter side in you.

So, in the movie, when she meets these beings and they turn out to be not exactly what she was hoping for, she doesn't lose faith?

At one point in the movie, she's on the edge of losing it and saying, ‘I was wrong. This wasn't what I thought, and I made a mistake so f*** it.' But I don't think she loses faith. I think it grows within her. Some people can go through difficulties without deep scars in their souls, and she is one of those. She doesn't have a broken heart and that makes her quite strong, even though she's facing the worst thing you could ever contemplate. It's the first time for me, actually, that I've played a character who is not totally messed up and in pieces - mentally and emotionally. I'm used to doing people who are more destroyed in their souls and as a result, moving in the shadows.

So, this is not Lisbeth Salander in space.

Not at all. (laughs). I think Shaw is a scientist and an archaeologist, so she can always go back to a working mode. That's her way of surviving - to be analytical instead of becoming totally emotional. I think that Shaw is the heart of the movie and the one you read things through.

It's a movie with huge ideas about the dawn of mankind, among other things.

It's quite spiritual in a way. I think people think about science-fiction movies and some of the Alien movies in terms of action. It's about weapons and big creatures from outer space, and a war between mankind and aliens. But this script is very much about us: what we are and what we came from and what we want, and what we're seeking and what we need from life. And also, for my character, it all connects to surviving and how you manage to stay as a believer without losing faith. It's very much about faith, actually. I love the story of Prometheus, of how he stole fire from the gods and gave it to the mortals. He gave us life and rescued everybody. It's connected. I think that adds even more to the religious angle. It's about humankind and our gods and the conflict between us.

It seems clear that Shaw is not an Ellen Ripley (from Alien) clone. But is there an action side to her?

By the third act, she feels like a relative of Ripley in a way. They both can switch on some sort of warrior mode, as in ‘OK, I'm going to fight back. I'm not going to whine or feel pity for myself, or complain. I'm going to do whatever I need to do and get myself out of this situation.' I think there are a lot of similarities to Ripley, but she's not a clone. I think she's a bit more feminine in a way.

Were you a fan of Alien?

The first one, I loved. It was very poetic in a way. And when I saw it, when I was quite young, I was really amazed and so impressed by Sigourney. She was so raw. I was quite obsessed with her and that performance.

How close is this to Alien for you? Does it fit into that world?

I think we're in the same country, in a way. People may recognise some connections and I think we speak the same language. But I was quite surprised when I read the script. It did not feel like anything else I've ever read. I think that the relationships and psychological aspects to films are much more interesting than amazing action scenes but Prometheus actually has both. It's a really good script and Ridley is such an artist. When I stepped onto one of the sets, I had tears in my eyes. It was so beautiful, in a very weird way, and it was very cruel at the same time. He is a master of creating something you have not seen before. It's not a destructive or depressing movie at all. I think it's dark, yes, and quite disturbed, but still hopefully quite beautiful.

How did you get involved?

I came to LA, on promotional duty for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo a couple of times. It was insane. My days were fully booked and I was running from meeting to meeting. My manager said that Ridley wanted to meet me and Scott Free had sent me two scripts - not this one, though. So I came and I met Ridley. We didn't talk about Prometheus at all. I think he'd seen The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo three times at that point. He watches everything. I did this movie called Daisy Diamond, which is a dark movie where I play this destroyed young woman, and I did it before the Millennium movies - and Ridley had seen it! I met him again in London when I was shooting Sherlock Holmes and he said to me, you're my girl. I couldn't really believe it.

Where does Shaw come from?

I played her as British. We did a lot of ad-libbing and I texted my mum one day during production in English instead of Swedish. I didn't speak English two years ago. When The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo opened in Stockholm two years ago, I had a press conference and totally freaked out. I couldn't talk, I didn't have the language at all. Ridley said to me in August, ‘You have to work on the accent and make this language yours. You have to find a way to think in it and make it yours and be free in it.' So I made a decision after meeting him that this is going to be my language. I have to find a way of translating my thoughts into English and I'm quite surprised because it's coming quite fast and every day it's getting easier all the time. I'm dreaming in English now!