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Weaver's intensity as an actress is mitigated by a quirky sense of humor, which isn't always relegated to her strictly comedic roles. While the performances of her good friend and frequent co-star Kevin Kline sometimes tend toward parody, Weaver always plays it straight -- and by doing so takes you completely by surprise. When, as Janey Carver in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm," she encounters her prepubescent son playing "I'll show you mine" with Wendy (Christina Ricci), the girl next door, she takes her aside and offers a rambling litany of confused platitudes: "Our bodies are our temples, Wendy. But in adolescence, our bodies betray us. Which is why in places like Samoa and other developing countries they send kids out into the woods unarmed until they're ready to come back." Never mind that she's having an awkward affair of her own with Wendy's father (played by Kline). Her fumbling comments reveal both the hilarity of her own discomfort and the tragedy of her own alienation from any true understanding of intimacy.
While she may not exude warmth, some of Weaver's best -- and funniest -- moments are when she plays the sexual aggressor. She attacks Bill Murray in "Ghostbusters" ("I want you inside me"), Harrison Ford in "Working Girl" ("Would little Jackie like to come out and play?") and Sam Neill in last year's excellent thriller "Snow White" ("I just want to please my beloved"). In each, she prefers will to wiles, using manipulation over physical force only as a last resort. Though she might play the foil to a squirrely boyfriend, she never caves to the "I'm strong enough to be weak in your arms" stuff.
Weaver's extraordinary range has certainly paved a wider path for younger actresses, but few have actually followed suit -- most prefer to remain within the confines of the romantic comedy. Ryder, in yet another role that requires her face to be covered with black smudge, has at least tried, and there's a certain poetic justice to having her play the diminutive android Annalee Call, who's in awe of Ripley's prowess. But Ryder quickly proves she's no match for Weaver, on- or off-screen. Foul words fall from Ryder's innocent mouth like little pebbles dropping with a dull thud -- "Jesus Christ, what'd you put in this shit" -- whereas Weaver spits out bad words like bullets. In a shared moment that approaches poignancy, if only for its real-world subtext, Ripley asks Call, "So, you're the new asshole model they're putting out these days?" It's a scene that could just as easily have taken place in a women's locker room after a particularly grueling aerobics class, instead of in a spaceship after a battle with aliens. The young Lee, obsessing over the damage done to her otherwise flawless form, says, "Look at me, I'm disgusting," then, forgetting herself for a moment, turns to Ripley and asks, "How can you stand being who you are?" (Ripley has been genetically "reengineered" and is now part-alien, part clone). Ripley responds flatly, "Not much choice."
One of the things that makes watching Ripley so exciting is that she acts out some of womankind's wildest fantasies -- not one of them sexual. Who wouldn't want to be able to do a slam dunk that would make Wesley Snipes jealous? What woman over 25 hasn't dreamed of squeezing Ryder's insufferably adorable visage like a blemish until all the cuteness popped right out of it? And who can refrain from cheering when, in "Aliens," Weaver grabs corporate sleazeball Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) by the collar, puts his back up against the wall and chastises him for jeopardizing the welfare of her crew in the interests of crass commercialism. (If only Reiser's real-life agenda could be similarly thwarted, we might be spared another baby boom ...)
It's ironic that Weaver, whose acting roots are in theater, will perhaps always be best known for a series of science-fiction thrillers -- something that she initially considered beneath her abilities. (Certainly it was beneath her salary standards; for the first "Alien" movie, which grossed $65 million, she was paid $33,000 -- a paltry sum when compared with the $11 million she was paid for "Alien: Resurrection.") After all, she is a product of the entertainment elite -- she's the daughter of former NBC president Pat Weaver and British actress Elizabeth Inglis -- as well as of the New York theater world (she graduated from Yale School of Drama; her husband is theater director Jim Simpson).
Weaver once told an interviewer that her dream as a theater ingenue was to play Henry James-type roles in a repertory company. Though those roles were few and far between, she has led a respectable, if sporadic, stage career. She made her off-off-Broadway debut in 1977 in a play by friend and Yale classmate Christopher Durang, "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe." Durang has remained one of her staunchest supporters, casting her in several subsequent plays, most recently in 1996 as the sex-addicted Lulu in the critically acclaimed "Sex and Longing." Along with her husband, she created her own production company to develop low-budget projects.
Physically, what makes Weaver so interesting is that she's someone's, but not everyone's, ideal -- a trait that has kept her from being the It girl of any particular moment, but has also ensured the longevity of her career. While her look has hardly changed -- she's still more Upper East Side than Hollywood Hills -- she's one of the few women her age (she'll be 50 this year) whose career continues to evolve with each new role. For all her successes, though, Weaver still suffers for being "strong": She can't command the big-budget, romantic lead roles reserved for her more overtly feminine peers, like former Yale classmate Meryl Streep. But after spending so much time in Ripley's universe, Weaver understands that winning the battle only guarantees you a place in the war.
SALON | Jan. 12, 1999

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	C O L L E C T O R S ' C A R D S Brilliant postcards Send an electronic postcard with interesting facts about our Brilliant Careers subjects ___________________ Learn more about Sigourney Weaver's brilliant career at barnesandnoble.com ___________________ R E C E N T L Y - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE BRILLIANT CAREERS ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - - I N T R O Why we launched Brilliant Careers		AMERICAN AMAZON \| PAGE 1, 2 - - - - - - - - - - Weaver's intensity as an actress is mitigated by a quirky sense of humor, which isn't always relegated to her strictly comedic roles. While the performances of her good friend and frequent co-star Kevin Kline sometimes tend toward parody, Weaver always plays it straight -- and by doing so takes you completely by surprise. When, as Janey Carver in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm," she encounters her prepubescent son playing "I'll show you mine" with Wendy (Christina Ricci), the girl next door, she takes her aside and offers a rambling litany of confused platitudes: "Our bodies are our temples, Wendy. But in adolescence, our bodies betray us. Which is why in places like Samoa and other developing countries they send kids out into the woods unarmed until they're ready to come back." Never mind that she's having an awkward affair of her own with Wendy's father (played by Kline). Her fumbling comments reveal both the hilarity of her own discomfort and the tragedy of her own alienation from any true understanding of intimacy. While she may not exude warmth, some of Weaver's best -- and funniest -- moments are when she plays the sexual aggressor. She attacks Bill Murray in "Ghostbusters" ("I want you inside me"), Harrison Ford in "Working Girl" ("Would little Jackie like to come out and play?") and Sam Neill in last year's excellent thriller "Snow White" ("I just want to please my beloved"). In each, she prefers will to wiles, using manipulation over physical force only as a last resort. Though she might play the foil to a squirrely boyfriend, she never caves to the "I'm strong enough to be weak in your arms" stuff. Weaver's extraordinary range has certainly paved a wider path for younger actresses, but few have actually followed suit -- most prefer to remain within the confines of the romantic comedy. Ryder, in yet another role that requires her face to be covered with black smudge, has at least tried, and there's a certain poetic justice to having her play the diminutive android Annalee Call, who's in awe of Ripley's prowess. But Ryder quickly proves she's no match for Weaver, on- or off-screen. Foul words fall from Ryder's innocent mouth like little pebbles dropping with a dull thud -- "Jesus Christ, what'd you put in this shit" -- whereas Weaver spits out bad words like bullets. In a shared moment that approaches poignancy, if only for its real-world subtext, Ripley asks Call, "So, you're the new asshole model they're putting out these days?" It's a scene that could just as easily have taken place in a women's locker room after a particularly grueling aerobics class, instead of in a spaceship after a battle with aliens. The young Lee, obsessing over the damage done to her otherwise flawless form, says, "Look at me, I'm disgusting," then, forgetting herself for a moment, turns to Ripley and asks, "How can you stand being who you are?" (Ripley has been genetically "reengineered" and is now part-alien, part clone). Ripley responds flatly, "Not much choice." One of the things that makes watching Ripley so exciting is that she acts out some of womankind's wildest fantasies -- not one of them sexual. Who wouldn't want to be able to do a slam dunk that would make Wesley Snipes jealous? What woman over 25 hasn't dreamed of squeezing Ryder's insufferably adorable visage like a blemish until all the cuteness popped right out of it? And who can refrain from cheering when, in "Aliens," Weaver grabs corporate sleazeball Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) by the collar, puts his back up against the wall and chastises him for jeopardizing the welfare of her crew in the interests of crass commercialism. (If only Reiser's real-life agenda could be similarly thwarted, we might be spared another baby boom ...) It's ironic that Weaver, whose acting roots are in theater, will perhaps always be best known for a series of science-fiction thrillers -- something that she initially considered beneath her abilities. (Certainly it was beneath her salary standards; for the first "Alien" movie, which grossed $65 million, she was paid $33,000 -- a paltry sum when compared with the $11 million she was paid for "Alien: Resurrection.") After all, she is a product of the entertainment elite -- she's the daughter of former NBC president Pat Weaver and British actress Elizabeth Inglis -- as well as of the New York theater world (she graduated from Yale School of Drama; her husband is theater director Jim Simpson). Weaver once told an interviewer that her dream as a theater ingenue was to play Henry James-type roles in a repertory company. Though those roles were few and far between, she has led a respectable, if sporadic, stage career. She made her off-off-Broadway debut in 1977 in a play by friend and Yale classmate Christopher Durang, "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe." Durang has remained one of her staunchest supporters, casting her in several subsequent plays, most recently in 1996 as the sex-addicted Lulu in the critically acclaimed "Sex and Longing." Along with her husband, she created her own production company to develop low-budget projects. Physically, what makes Weaver so interesting is that she's someone's, but not everyone's, ideal -- a trait that has kept her from being the It girl of any particular moment, but has also ensured the longevity of her career. While her look has hardly changed -- she's still more Upper East Side than Hollywood Hills -- she's one of the few women her age (she'll be 50 this year) whose career continues to evolve with each new role. For all her successes, though, Weaver still suffers for being "strong": She can't command the big-budget, romantic lead roles reserved for her more overtly feminine peers, like former Yale classmate Meryl Streep. But after spending so much time in Ripley's universe, Weaver understands that winning the battle only guarantees you a place in the war. SALON \| Jan. 12, 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R E S O U R C E P A G E Click here for more information about the people profiled in Brilliant Careers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.