(Note: This interview was conducted before the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.
Some of her responses have previously been published.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You were approached aboutAlienwhen you were a young actor relatively fresh out of drama school.
20th Century-Fox/Everett Collection
And I liked Ridley [Scott] right away.
How so?There werent any preconceptions.
So many people in this business would have said, We have to make her more sympathetic.
Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection
Ripley doesnt have time to take a stab at be sympathetic, you know?
AfterAlien, how did your selection process change?
If you dont have that larger context, the movie wont have the weight an audience deserves.
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Idocare about the director [too].
It has to be someone whos slightly out-of-his-or-her-mind obsessed with this project.
Speaking of directors, how have your conversations with them changed over time?
Jessica Miglio/Netflix
The young directors now, its harder for them to get the experience they need with actors sometimes.
I thought it was incredibly exciting.
Thats what were there for.
Jim Cameron is very much the same way.
And I dont know that Id be technically [proficient], you know?
If I can just concentrate on the actual story, Ill be okay.
You know, who are we?
What does it mean to be human?
What does the future hold for us?
Now weve sort of found a balance.
And yet,2016s female-led reboot ofGhostbustersdrew hate, largely from male fans of the original.
I cantbeginto interpret it, frankly.
I thought it was very childish and cruel.
I guess if you saw the movie as a kid you would feel possessive over it.
But come on, things change.
Women are at the table, and there are plenty of projects to go around.
It was a good movie, I thought.
They were splendid in it, and no ones taking away the original.
So Ill never be quite able to understand what happened except that it was unfortunate.
[Sighs] I thought it was really sad that it happened to that project.
But I think theyve all moved on, so hopefully everyone learned something from that.
I cant wait to see Charlize inAtomic Blonde, was it?
Yup,Atomic Blonde.I think thats great, I think thats a reflection, again, of our society.
It was a very new idea.
I was really lucky.
This might be hard to answer on the spot.Hmm…
In terms of a great movie that I often look at, something likeTo Kill a Mockingbirdwould be great.
It would be great to see a woman play the lawyer.
You cant help but see that the world has changed.
[Note: This interview was conducted before the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.
]Youve attended before forPaulin 2010 and for theAliens30th anniversary reunion in 2016.
I actually went with a friend.
[Laughs] I thought, What a great thing.
There should be, because its so much fun for movie lovers to get together.
Im glad you brought upGalaxy Quest, by the way.
Its a personal favorite.IloveddoingGalaxy Quest.
Im much closer to Gwen than I am to Ripley [laughs].
Im not very heroic.
Oh, for what its worth,Ithink Gwen is heroic.Well, thank you.
It took guts to do what she did.
Going back to your Comic-Con experiences, do you rememberwhen you were introduced at New York Comic Con?
It was a lot of fun.
I hope we can live up to this.
And I think thats verydescriptive of my character.
There are things she cares about deeply.
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What drew you to the role?
Had you seen all of the standalone series?No, I didnt really know much about them.
Making that block that much better for the people who live on it, that really spoke to me.
But I had to completely educate myself.
Shes a really worthy adversary.
I thought it was a very beautifully written part, very ambitiously conceived, and challenging.
Can you explain your choice to call her an adversary and not a villain?
Isnt she the Big Bad?
I hate all those terms so much.
I really enjoyed playing Alexandra.
Ive certainly never played anyone like her.
I felt like I was in heaven, I just felt very lucky to be a part of it.
After Comic-Con, youll be starting work onAvatar 2.
The first film came out in 2009; why follow up nearly a decade later withfourwhole sequels?
Having read all four of them, I think theyre absolutely extraordinary and worth the wait.
Its just incredible to be living now when we can bring this kind of film experience to the public.
I can really, really appreciate it.
[Laughs]
And once youre done with all of them, will you continue venturing into space?
[Laughs] I think afterAvatar, Im going to take a break.
Maybe Ill do a comedy.
