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| A Sigourney Sampler |
| Weaver has appeared in 43 feature films ranging from small, independent dramas to blockbuster science-fiction thrillers. Here is a selection of those roles. |
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ANNIE HALL (1977)
United Artists |
Weaver’s first film role is credited as “Alvy’s Date Outside Theatre.” She had
no lines and was on screen for six seconds. |
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ALIEN (1979)
Twentieth Century Fox |
Now hailed as a seminal female action hero, Weaver’s Ellen Ripley was not the protagonist in the original story. “To the producers’ credit, they thought no one would expect a girl to be the lone survivor. But it wasn’t an attempt to make a feminist statement,” Weaver says. The costumes had to change, too. “We had these light blue outfits, and when Ridley Scott saw me, he said, ‘You look like . . . Jackie Onassis in space.’ So they switched us to suits that looked more like what NASA would wear.” |
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| THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (1982)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) |
Jill Bryant (Weaver) is a British embassy employee and the girlfriend of journalist Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson), caught in the political unrest of 1960s Indonesia. Weaver says this is the first film she truly enjoyed making. Director Peter Weir “took the time to show me my strengths,” she says. “We were put into situations and asked to improvise—you’re supposed to be freezing when you’re really broiling. I fell in love with it.” |
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| DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1994)
Fine Line Features |
Set in a fictional Third World country, Maiden stars Weaver as Paulina Escobar,
a political activist married to a prominent civil rights lawyer. When a stranger—played by Ben Kingsley—shows up at the couple’s home one stormy night with car trouble, Weaver’s character recognizes him as the doctor in the former fascist regime who tortured and raped her. Weaver knocks him out, ties him up and exacts a confession. “It probably wasn’t until I did Death and the Maiden that I felt really confident as an actor,” Weaver says. |
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| THE ICE STORM (1997)
Twentieth Century Fox |
Directed by Ang Lee, Weaver portrays disenchanted suburban housewife Janey Carver in an ensemble drama about the moral and spiritual disease infecting a 1970s upper-middle-class neighborhood.
In one scene, Janey lies next to her lover, played by Kevin Kline, who drones on about golf and business associates. She cuts him off briskly. “Ben, you’re boring me. I already have a husband.” Weaver was nominated for a Golden Globe. |
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| GALAXY QUEST (1999)
Dreamworks |
In this cult hit, Weaver plays Gwen DeMarco, an actress in
a TV spaceship crew à la Star Trek. When alien visitors confuse the actors for real galactic heroes, campy drama ensues. Weaver says the role was cathartic because it allowed her to play a person who is tired of being treated
like a bimbo. “So often that’s how I feel like I’ve been viewed in Hollywood.” |
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| TADPOLE (2002)
Miramax |
A Sundance Film Festival favorite, this coming-of-age comedy centers on the ardor of a teenage boy (played by Aaron Stanford) for his beautiful, refined stepmother, Eve, Weaver’s character. Stephen Holden of the New York Times called it “a delicious bonbon of a film.” |
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| SNOW CAKE (2006)
Revolution Films |
To prepare for her role as Linda Freeman, a highly functional autistic adult in a small Canadian town, Weaver spent months with Freeman’s real-life counterparts, exploring the challenges and delights of an autistic person’s world. “I felt a real responsibility, having been the recipient of their great generosity, to get it right,” Weaver says. |
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