MTV Movies Blog » Don’t Expect To See Ripley In ‘Avatar,’ Says Sigourney Weaver

Don’t Expect To See Ripley In ‘Avatar,’ Says Sigourney Weaver

Published by Shawn Adler on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 1:30 pm.

Sigourney Weaver When it comes to bad-ass babes in cinema history, well, there’s Ellen Ripley, the take no prisoners heroin at the center of “Alien” and its three sequels, and then there’s everybody else.

But if anyone could match her, it would have to be the tag-team of James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver, back together again on the 3-D extravaganza “Avatar,” right? Could Dr. Grace Augustine be a Ripley for the 21st century?

At least one person doesn’t think so. Too bad that one person is Weaver herself.

“There’s not too much Ripley [in her]. The only thing they have in common is they devoted their lives to this other thing,” the veteran actress recently told MTV News. “I think [Grace] probably would have liked a normal life but she had to make a choice and she chose science.”

Ok, yeah, but it’s a Cameron film. That means even eggheads get into a little action – and Doc Augustine is no exception, Weaver confessed, revealing that she’s front and center for a lot of butt-kicking.

“She has an avatar. She’s very involved,” Weaver teased. “[In fact,] I would say her real life is as an avatar.”

That’s…confusing – mostly because we don’t really know yet exactly what an avatar is in Cameron’s script. Does Weaver’s statement mean that she takes over another person’s body? Does it mean that somebody takes over hers? Anyone with knowledge or details, please write in below.

In the meantime, Weaver is still talking about how she’s taking over another person’s body to prepare for the role. Well, sort of.

“I’m playing very much a leader in this. Someone who gets the job done. Someone very very driven and smart and yet funny. The only person I could think of that was like this at all was Jim Cameron,” Weaver said, echoing statements she made to MTV in February. “Jim Cameron is an amazing person. First of all he knows everything in an unobnoxious way. He just wants to get on with it so he has a great deal of leadership.”

What in the heck is “Avatar”? Help a brother out and sound off below on what you think Weaver means.

8 Responses to “Don’t Expect To See Ripley In ‘Avatar,’ Says Sigourney Weaver”

Liam says:

1:59 on 04/15

I have read parts of the old script and an Avatar is a body that the humans use to walk on the planet Pandora. Humans cannot walk on the surface due to the atmosphere, so they have an Avatar to do that for them.

From what I read it is kinda loike The Matrix where the human gets plugged in and his mind is transported into the body of the Avatar, who meets and greets with the aliens.
abhishek says:

1:47 on 04/16

its a good one.
abhishek says:

1:48 on 04/16

its a good one
Steffan, England says:

12:06 on 04/16

I haven't looked forward to a film this much since KING KONG! This gonna be a modern classic in every sense. Cannot wait until Christmas 2009.
Jim Dorey says:

6:59 on 04/17

There is a lot more that meets the eye here. The story is very exciting indeed - my site has the old scriptment (which has undoubtedly changed somewhat) and some surprises unveiled - check this out: http://tinyurl.com/2ssun8

And afterwards type in a blog search for Avatar for more! Thats all I cover - 3D movies...

Best,
-jim
www.marketsaw.com
3D Movies and Technology
The Best "Avatar" Coverage On The Planet
Jim Dorey says:

7:00 on 04/17

There is a lot more that meets the eye here. The story is very exciting indeed - my site has the old scriptment (which has undoubtedly changed somewhat) and some surprises unveiled - check this out: tinyurl.com/2ssun8

And afterwards type in a blog search for Avatar for more! Thats all I cover - 3D movies...

Best,
-jim
MarketSaw.com
3D Movies and Technology
The Best "Avatar" Coverage On The Planet
Tom Powell says:

10:40 on 04/17

The Avatar character from the old scriptment may not be anything like Cameron's final cut. I read that Cameron has changed the alien significantly other than it being a bi-pedal with a tail. I designed a visual concept of one the Avatar beings based on Cameron's old scriptment. No doubt it will look quite different from Cameron's vision, but you can look at AvatarMovieZone.com.

Tom Powell
AvatarMovieZone.com
Deb Della Piana says:

3:44 on 04/20

Sigourney is one of the absolute best, a real class act. She's right about Ripley. Ripley was a class act too and she deserves to rest. After all, she's getting old! I love the Alien series and I think it should go out on top.