She is best known as Ellen Ripley, the heroic, xenomorph-battling warrant officer of the doomed Nostromo spacecraft in 1979’s Alien, or perhaps as chain-smoking scientist Grace Augustine in 2009 box office megalith Avatar. But Sigourney Weaver has reportedly taken on a rather gentler role after the cult American actor was spotted moonlighting on the set of cosy ITV drama Doc Martin.
Weaver, who also attended the London Film and Comic Con event on Monday, was captured by an amateur videographer during filming in the picturesque Cornish fishing village of Port Isaac last week. Sporting a floppy fisherman’s hat, camera and backpack, the actor looked the very picture of an American tourist exploring the English countryside, though details of her character have not been revealed. She appeared to be filming a scene outside a local pharmacy with Martin Clunes, who stars as the title character in the long-running series.
Doc Martin centres on a successful vascular surgeon at Imperial College London who obtains a post as a GP in the sleepy Cornish village of Port Quin after developing a fear of blood. The doctor has his own celluloid roots, with a slightly different version of the character having debuted in the 2000 British independent comedy Saving Grace, starring Brenda Blethyn as a widow with green fingers who begins growing cannabis to relieve a financial crisis. The TV show is currently shooting its seventh series.
Speaking at a panel on Monday at London Film and Comic Con, Weaver revealed that Alien director Ridley Scott was poised to return to the sci fi saga before the release of 2004’s much-maligned Alien vs Predator spin-off film, which was directed by Britain’s Paul WS Anderson and failed to find critical favour.
“[He] was about to direct a third one, until this was announced, and he dropped out,” said the 65-year-old actor. “Because he also wanted to do an Alien sequel ... I think it caused more problems than it was worth.”
Weaver confirmed long-standing reports that it had been her choice to have Ripley killed off at the end of 1992’s Alien 3.
“I heard that [Twentieth Century] Fox was gonna do Alien vs Predator, which really depressed me because I was very proud of the movies,” she said. “I’ve nothing against building a movie on a video game, but at the time it was, as [Aliens director] Jim Cameron said, I think publicly, ‘Why would you want to do that’? It’s like making Alien meets the Wolfman.”
The Ghostbusters star also praised District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, who is making a new Alien film starring Weaver, which will return to the style of the saga’s earlier instalments.
“I’m so excited about Neill — because Neill is like you guys! He broke the tapes of these movies when he was a kid, he watched them so much,” she told the audience, in comments first reported by the Radio Times. “I love the fact that Neill’s fulfilling his childhood dream of what he hopes will be the popcorn movie, the Alien popcorn movie that he wanted as a kid to see.”
Weaver also hinted that Ripley might finally get a happy ending. “Well — it’s certainly something we’ve discussed,” she said.
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