Alien: Sigourney goes to the audition


Sigourney got a call to go in and meet a director about a science fiction film, they sent her the script, and she pictured the whole thing as being a much more routine sort of movie with the alien as being a big yellow blob of gelatin chasing people, without any clue of what she would eventually be facing, and so she didn't really think much of it.

When she went for the audition, it was a Friday afternoon 17th March 1978 , she was supposed to go to the Regency Hotel, but for some reason she had gone to the wrong hotel. 

She called her agent "I don't know. should I blow it off. I mean the script was..."

Her agent said "Just go"

Ridley Scott, David Giler, Gordon Carroll and casting director Mary Selway waited there. 

Perhaps she was due to meet them at 2:30 and then 2:30 arrived, then 2:45 arrived, but then at ten minutes to three they heard fast paced feet coming towards the door, and then slowing down, composing itself.

leading to

Loews Regency Hotel
  1. Sigourney Weaver: I got this audition. Erm,  they'd sent me the script which, of course, not knowing the Rambaldi designs, l pictured this big yellow blob of gelatin chasing these people! And er, nothing as elegant as it turned out to be. And l actually went to the wrong place, and l called my agent, l said ''Ohh...'' You know, it's , it was, like, Friday afternoon. l said ''l don't know. I mean the script was...'' She said ''Just go.'' (Alien Quadrilogy Documentary)
  2. Gordon Carroll: As l remember, we were in the Regency Hotel at the time. Sigourney, for some reason had gone to another hotel, we did not know this, and she was due at, whatever, 2.30, and 2.30 arrives, and 2.45 arrives. Ten minutes to three arrives, and er, and then we hear... l can't say running feet in the corridor, but we hear fast-paced feet coming toward the door, and then slowing down, composing itself... The bell rings, Mary opens the door, and Ripley was standing there. This extraordinary-looking woman, tall, commanding presence.(Alien Quadrilogy Documentary)
  3. Sigourney Weaver: I got a call to go in and meet the director about this science fiction film and I was given the script and not having seen the designs I of course pictured something much more routine, like a big blob of yellow jello chasing people and I thought it was not that great. And I actually went to the wrong place, called my agent and said science fiction, should I blow it off. And he said no, I think you should go. So luckily I ended up at the audition, met Ridley who I liked right away and he, first, showed me these astonishing drawings by Geiger that just were so startling and I realized I’d never seen anything like this in a movie. And some of the Carlo Rambaldi sketches as well. Then we started to talk about the script. And of course I was an English major at university. And he said well what do you think of the script and I started to criticize it. And I remember the casting person Mary was there. And she was going `shutup you idiot, who are you’ and I hadn’t done anything except some theatre but anyway I appreciated and I was lucky that it was Ridley Scott because he was at least pretending to be curious about my opinion and so we had a very straight talk about it and then I guess things just preceeded from there. I met the producers and then I guess eventually I was sent to Los Angeles to meet Alan Ladd Junior and then eventually I had a screen test. (report from the interiew for Alien Evolution)
  4. Sigourney Weaver : I'd heard it was a science fiction movie and, er,  I wasn't that interested I have to say. I didn't really want to make movies, I, I wanted to , erm,  I wanted to work with like Mike Nichols and Woody Allen movies and that was about it, so I almost didn't go to the audition. Luckily I, I went over, I was wearing these very high hooker boots, I remember, because I really didn't, I didn't think it mattered how tall I was, erm, usually I try to appear more petite. (Alien Saga)

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