Random Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Alien (43 items)

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  (#1) The First Alien Was a Graphic Artist

  Bolaji Badejo, who plays the alien, was a graphic artist who was discovered at a pub by one of the casting directors. He was about seven feet tall with thin arms - just what they needed to fit into the alien costume, and beat out Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in the Star Wars films) for the part. He was given tai chi and mime classes to learn how to slow down his movements and because he couldn't sit down in the alien suit (because of the tail), a special swing had to be constructed for him to sit in during filming.
  
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  (#2) Aliens Set the Bar for Action Movies with the Academy

  Sigourney Weaver's 1987 Best Actress Oscar nomination for Aliens was the first ever for an actress playing a role in an action movie.
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  (#3) The Marine Sergeant in Aliens Was a Real (and Noteworthy) Marine Sergeant

  Al Matthews, who plays Marine sergeant Apone in Aliens, was in real life the first Black Marine to be promoted to the rank of sergeant in the field during service in Vietnam.
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  (#4) They Scheduled Aliens Around the Marines' On-Screen Relationship

  Like most films, the movie wasn't shot in sequence. But for added realism, James Cameron filmed the scene in which we first meet the Colonial Marines last, even though it's one of the earliest scenes in the film. This was so that the camaraderie of the Marines was realistic because the actors had spent months filming together before shooting the scene.
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  (#5) Alien Was Written with Unisex Characters, but Ripley Wasn't Originally Thought of as Female

  All of the names of the main characters were changed multiple times by Walter Hill and David Giler during revisions of the original script by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett The O'Bannon/Shusett script also had a clause indicating that all of the characters were "unisex," meaning they could be cast with male or female actors. Consequently, all of the characters are only referred to by their last name (Dallas, Kane, Ripley, Ash, Lambert, Parker, and Brett), and the few gender-specific pronouns (he/she) were corrected after casting.

  Despite this, Shusett and O'Bannon never really thought of casting Ripley as a female character.
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  (#6) The Iconic Chest-Burster Scene Was Actually Terrifying

  For the chest-burster sequence, John Hurt stuck his head, shoulders and arms through a hole in the mess table, linking up with a mechanical torso that was packed with compressed air (to create the forceful exit of the alien) and lots of animal guts. The rest of the cast were not told that real guts were being used so as to provoke genuine reactions of shock and disgust. The scene was filmed in one take with four cameras. 
  
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  (#7) The Underwater Tank Used in Alien Resurrection Was so Large, It's Now Permenant

  The underwater segment was shot on a specially constructed sound stage on the Fox lot, which was converted into a permanent water-tank. It took nearly a week to completely fill it with water.
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  (#8) Sigourney Weaver Really Made That Basketball Shot in Alien Resurrection

  Sigourney Weaver made the behind-the-back half-court basketball shot successfully after two weeks of basketball practice, tutored by a basketball coach. Her conversion rate during that two weeks was about one shot in every six. When the day came to shoot the scene, director Jean-Pierre Jeaunet wanted to have the ball dropped in from above, rather than wait for Weaver to sink the shot herself, which "would probably take about 200 takes."

  Weaver insisted that the she could get the shot in herself, which she was finally allowed to do. She sunk the shot on the very first take, even though she was six feet behind the three-point line. Ron Perlman was completely stunned (and thoroughly impressed), and turned directly at the camera and broke character, saying, "Oh my God!" The editors looked at the shot and decided that there was "enough room to get the scissors in." Weaver was excited about making the shot, but Jeunet was concerned that audiences would believe the shot to be faked due to the ball leaving the frame. Upon Weaver's insistence, he kept the shot as it was. Weaver described the miracle shot as one of the best moments in her life. 
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  (#9) Some of the Fear on Bill Paxton's Face During the Knife Trick Was Real

  Paxton didn't learn that he would be part of the infamous knife trick until it was time to shoot it. The initial takes looked too fake, so reshoots were scheduled for the next day, during which Lance Henriksen (Bishop) accidentally caught Paxton's pinky with the knife.
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  (#10) The Slide Down the Air Duct in Aliens Was Actually a Lot of Fun

  When filming the scene with Newt in the duct, Carrie Henn (Newt) kept deliberately blowing her scene so she could slide down the vent again. James Cameron finally dissuaded her by saying that if she completed the shot, she could play on what was basically a three-story slide as much as she wanted. She did, and he kept his promise.
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  (#11) The Giant Space Jockey from Alien (and Later Prometheus) Was Burned Down by a Stray Cigarette

  20th Century Fox Studios almost did not allow the 26-foot-tall space jockey or the giant alien pilot to be in the film. This was because, at the time, props for movies weren't this large and it was hard to justify this big of a prop that would only be used for one scene. However, conceptual artist Ron Cobb convinced them to leave the scene in the movie, as it would be the film's "Cecil B DeMille shot," showing the audience that this wasn't some low-budget B-movie. 

  The large space jockey sculpture was designed and painted by H.R. Giger himself, who was disappointed he couldn't put any finishing touches on it before the scene was filmed. Sadly, in the end, the space jockey prop was burned and destroyed by a burning cigarette left on the prop.
  
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  (#12) The Who Helped the Production Design Team on Alien

  The blue laser lights that were used in the alien ship's egg chamber in the opening of Alien were borrowed from The Who. The band was testing out the lasers for their stage show on the soundstage next door.
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  (#13) An Alternate Draft of Alien 3 Was Eventually Turned Into Pitch Black

  David Twohy contributed to the pile of abandoned scripts the movie's pre-production generated. In his version, the only returning character was Ripley, who only briefly appeared on a file card. As in previous scripts, the story involved experiments in genetically-engineering aliens as bioweapons. This script introduced a high-security prison facility in space and its morally ambiguous inmates (one of which was an escape artist), all of which made it into both the finished product, and Twohy's own Pitch Black.
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  (#14) Sigourney Weaver's Aliens Pay Day Was the Entire Alien Budget

  Sigourney Weaver was paid $11 million to come back as Ripley, which was the entire budget of Alien.
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  (#15) They Used Simple, but Brilliant, Techniques to Make the Alien Scarier in the First Film

  In the first film, the creature is never filmed directly facing the camera, due to the humanoid features of its face. Ridley Scott, determined at all costs to dispel any notion of a man in a rubber suit, filmed the beast in varying close-up angles of its ghastly profile, very rarely capturing it in its entirety.

  In H.R. Giger's original illustrations, the creature had eyes. For the movie, Giger insisted that the creature have no eyes, thus giving the bleak appearance of a cold and emotionless beast.
  
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  (#16) The Power Loader in Aliens Was Rigged to Get... Excited

  While filming the power loader battle, the crew played a practical joke on Sigourney Weaver by strategically strapping a balloon connected to an air pipe to where her backside would be. When they pumped up the balloon, Weaver thought that the man operating the power loader inside it was getting aroused behind her.
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  (#17) The Alien Nest Was Used Again in Tim Burton's Batman

  The alien nest set was kept intact after filming and was later used as the Axis Chemicals set in Tim Burton's Batman.
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  (#18) James Cameron Helped Design the Massive Alien Queen

  There was talk of bringing H.R. Giger back for the second movie to do more design work, but James Cameron decided against it because there was only one major design to be done, that of the Alien Queen, of which Cameron had already done some drawings of. 

  (Once the Queen was completed to bring her to life would take anything between 14 and 16 operators.)
  
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  (#19) The Alien Had Acid Blood for a Practical Reason

  It was conceptual artist Ron Cobb who came up with the idea that the alien should bleed acid in the very first film. This came about when Dan O'Bannon couldn't find a reason why the Nostromo crew just wouldn't shoot the alien with a gun.
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  (#20) The Young Ripley Clone Was Modeled After Young Sigourney Weaver

  The opening shot of Ripley cloned, albeit as a young girl, was based on photographs of herself as a child that Sigourney Weaver had given the special effects team.
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  (#21) For the First Film, John Hurt and Jon Finch Danced Around a Leading Role Due to a Complication with John Heard

  According to John Hurt's DVD featurette, at the beginning of the casting process, he was considered for the role of Kane, but since he had already committed to another film that was set to take place in South Africa, Jon Finch got the role instead.

  However, two separate incidents occurred that ultimately got Hurt the role. First was the fact that he was banned from South Africa because the country mistook him for actor John Heard who strongly opposed the Apartheid (Hurt pointed out that he was opposed to it too, but was lucky enough not to get blacklisted) so he was unable to do the other film. Second, Finch became seriously ill from diabetes and had to pull out. Ridley Scott immediately contacted Hurt, pitched him the script over a weekend and Hurt arrived on the set Monday morning to begin filming.
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  (#22) Michael Biehn's Iconic Role as Hicks Was Supposed to Be Someone Else's

  Hicks was originally played by James Remar, but Michael Biehn replaced him a few days after principal photography began, due to "artistic differences" between Remar and director James Cameron. However, Remar still appears in the finished film. He's wearing the same armor Biehn would wear, and is seen from behind, so it's impossible to tell the difference between the two actors. 

  Biehn got the call on a Friday night asking him to take over the role of Hicks and was in London to start filming the following Monday.
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  (#23) The Alien Queen Was Recreated Thanks to an Alien Superfan

   

  To preserve the shock-value of the alien's appearance, no production images of it were released, not even to author Alan Dean Foster when he was writing the novelization of the first film.
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  (#24) The Alien Was Always Kept Under-Wraps

   

  To preserve the shock-value of the alien's appearance, no production images of it were released, not even to author Alan Dean Foster when he was writing the novelization of the first film.
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  (#25) The Appearance of Hundreds of Aliens in the First Film Was Done with Just Six Alien Suits

   

  Only six alien suits were used and they were mostly just a handful of latex appliances on black leotards. The appearance of hundreds of aliens is simply clever editing, planning, and lighting.
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  (#26) James Cameron Pretended to Recast Weaver with Schwarzenegger to Get Aliens Contracts Finalized Quickly

  The difficulties surrounding Sigourney Weaver's contract negotiations were such that James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd - recently married - announced that if the deal was not done by the time they got back from their honeymoon, they were out.

  When they returned, no progress had been made - so Cameron, determined to make the film and wary of the deadline scenario he had created, devised a scheme: he telephoned Arnold Schwarzenegger's agent for an informal chat and told him that, thanks to his newfound standing in Hollywood following The Terminator, he had decided to make this film entirely his own by writing out Ripley completely.

  As Cameron anticipated, Schwarzenegger's agent immediately relayed the information to his colleague who represented Weaver, who in turn contacted 20th Century Fox Head of Production Lawrence Gordon. Both men, determined that under no circumstances whatsoever would Ripley be written out, wasted no time sealing Weaver's deal.
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  (#27) Fincher Had to Fight Constant Interference from the Studio During Alien 3

   

  At one point, David Fincher was denied permission by the film's producers to shoot a crucial scene in the prison understructure between Ripley and the alien. Against orders, Fincher grabbed Sigourney Weaver, a camera, and shot the scene anyway. This scene appears in the final cut.
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  (#28) The Alien Franchise Spans 257 Years

  Alien Resurrection takes place in 2379, 200 years after Aliens and Alien 3, which took place in 2179, and 257 years after Alien, which was set in 2122.
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  (#29) James Cameron (and His Editor) Made Sure All the Timing Was Right in Aliens

   

  When they have landed and deployed in the troop carrier, Apone tells the Marines they have ten seconds until they arrive. If you count from there, until the first Marine jumps out of the carrier and his boots hit the ground, it really is ten seconds. 
   
  As well, in both the standard and special edition versions, the fifteen minute countdown at the end of the film is indeed fifteen minutes.
   
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  (#30) Ridley Scott's Original Idea for Alien 3 Eventually Morphed Into Prometheus

  The original Alien director, Ridley Scott, turned down the chance to direct Alien 3. Scott, and later Renny Harlin both thought the third film should explore the origin of the Xenomorph species. This concept was deemed too expensive by David Giler and Walter Hill, so Scott declined to return and Harlin later quit the film. Scott ultimately got his wish with Prometheus.
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  (#31) No One Liked That Newt, Bishop, and Hicks Were Killed off in the Opening of Alien 3

  Michael Biehn stated in an interview that he was deeply hurt that the film opened with his character from Aliens, Corporal Duane Hicks, being killed off, after escaping with Ripley, Newt, and Bishop at the end of the previous film and did not understand why it happened this way.

  Novelist Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the novelization of the film, objected to the storyline, most specifically, to the deaths of Newt and Hicks. His initial draft of the novel had Newt survive, but the studio rejected this, forcing Foster to keep his adaptation consistent with the film. For this reason, the author declined to write any other adaptations of the franchise. 

  A series of Aliens comic books was published, and was set after the events in Aliens, featuring an adult Newt returning to space with a shell-shocked Hicks to stop the retrieval of an alien specimen by Weyland-Yutani corporation. 

  Lance Henricksen only agreed to reprise his role as Bishop in Alien 3 as a personal favor to Walter Hill. To this day, Henriksen has said he dislikes the film for its nihilistic themes.
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  (#32) The Crew Thought Outside the Box to Make the Alien More Terrifying

  Shredded condoms were used to create tendons of the beast's ferocious jaws and KY Jelly was used to make its face extra slimy. 

  Additionally, the inside of the alien eggs, as seen by Kane, was composed of real organic material, including cattle hearts and stomachs.

  The tail of the facehugger was made of sheep intestine. The internal organs of the dead facehugger on which Ash performs an autopsy were made using fresh shellfish, oysters, and a sheep kidney.
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  (#33) It Took a Lot to Convince Sigourney Weaver to Do an Alien Sequel

   

  Sigourney Weaver had initially been very hesitant to reprise her role as Ripley, and had rejected numerous offers from Fox Studios to do any sequels, fearing that her character would be poorly written, and a sub-par sequel could hurt the legacy of Alien. However, she was so impressed by the high quality of James Cameron's script - specifically, the strong focus on Ripley, the mother-daughter bond between her character and Newt, and the incredible precision with which Cameron wrote her character, that she finally agreed to do the film.
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  (#34) 20th Century Fox Waited on James Cameron Before Moving Forward on Aliens

  Having hired James Cameron to write the screenplay, 20th Century Fox then did the unthinkable. When he left the production to direct The Terminator, they agreed to wait for Cameron to become available again and finish the screenplay. Cameron had only completed about 90 pages at that stage, but the studio had loved what he had written so far.
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  (#35) Han Solo Could Have Been Captain Dallas

   

  Harrison Ford turned down the role of Captain Dallas.
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  (#36) Hicks Was Paid More for His Image to Be Used in Alien 3 Than for His Role in Aliens

   

  One possible idea for the film included a chest-burster coming out of Michael Biehn's character, Hicks. A replica of the actor with his chest torn open was created, but after Biehn discovered this, he threatened to sue the producers for using his likeness without his consent, and the idea was dropped. Later, the producers paid him to use his picture at the beginning of the film for the computer sequence. Apparently he received more money for use of this one image than for his role in Aliens.
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  (#37) Jones's Cat Acting Was Inspired by a German Shepherd Standing in for the Alien

   

  In the first film, to get Jones the cat to react fearfully to the descending alien, a German shepherd was hidden behind a screen, so the cat wouldn't see it at first. The screen was then suddenly removed to make Jones stop in his tracks, and start hissing.
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  (#38) Alien Resurrection Was Originally About a Cloned Newt

  The original idea for the movie was for Newt (the child from Aliens) to be cloned, not Ripley. This was changed when Sigourney Weaver agreed to reprise her role for $11 million.
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  (#39) The Colors Popped in Alien Resurrection Because Silver Was Added to the Film Printing Process

   

  In order to heighten contrasts, cinematographer Darius Khondji added silver to the printing process. This had the result of making the dark colors richer and giving everything else a metallic tinge. He also used an electric blue tint for the underwater sequence.
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  (#40) David Fincher Has Completely Disowned Alien 3

  First-time director David Fincher disowned Alien 3, citing constant studio interference, and actually walked out of production before final editing began. He did preside over a rough cut that became the basis for the "Assembly Cut," a longer version of the film, later released on DVD and Blu-ray.

  With the release of the definitive Alien Quadrilogy on DVD in 2004, 20th Century Fox offered David Fincher the proverbial olive branch and asked him to assemble and comment on his own Director's Cut. Fincher declined. He was the only one of the four Alien directors to refuse to have anything to do with the project.
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  (#41) In Other Countries, the Title of the Franchise Translates as "Death"

  Alien's Hungarian title translated back means "the eighth passenger is the death," and all other films in the franchise likewise had titles that end with the word "death": 

  Aliens - "the name of the planet: death"
  Alien 3 - "final solution: death"
  Alien Resurrection - "the resurrection of death"

  The original releases ignored the word "Alien" in the title, but it has since been retroactively inserted after more people became familiar with the franchise's English name. Despite this, the alien is again referred to as "death" in the Hungarian title of Alien vs. Predator, translating as "the death against the predator."
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  (#42) Alien Resurrection Helped Inspire Firefly in a Roundabout Way

  Joss Whedon has commented on his dissatisfaction with the movie. Fans had speculated that the finished article deviated from his original script in some fatal manner, however he put such rumors to rest stating that his dialogue, action, and plot were essentially intact. However, he had written with a playful, tongue-in-cheek tone, which didn't work when the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, decided to "play it straight."
  
  In 2005, Whedon said, "It wasn't a question of doing everything differently, although they changed the ending; it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong. They said the lines but they said them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored it wrong. They did everything wrong they could possibly do. That's actually a fascinating lesson in filmmaking. Because everything they did reflects back to the script or looks like something from it. And people assume that if I hated it then they'd changed the script... but it wasn't so much they changed it, they executed it in such a ghastly fashion they rendered it unwatchable."

  Eventually, the Betty and her crew became the prototypes for Whedon's Firefly, which captured the tone for which he had been aiming. 
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  (#43) A Pitch for Alien 3 Was Made Into Species

  Some of H.R. Giger's design for the film involved a puma-like alien with claws. The producers also instructed him to do more sexy designs, so he created a drawing of an alien, which, in close view, had the lips of a woman. One of his ideas involved the alien kissing its victims and killing them that way (an idea that was later used in the movie Species).
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  (#44) Ridley Scott Wasn't the First Choice to Start the Franchise

  Potential directors, who either were considered by the studio or wanted to direct the film, included Robert Aldrich, Peter Yates, Jack Clayton, Dan O'Bannon, and Walter Hill. Aldrich in particular came very close to being hired, but the producers ultimately decided against it after they met him in person, and it quickly became apparent that he had no real enthusiasm for the project beyond the money he would have made.

  According to David Giller, the moment when Aldrich talked himself out of the job came when they asked him what kind of a design he had in mind for the facehugger; Aldrich simply shrugged and said "We'll put some entrails on the guy's face. It's not as if anyone's going to remember that critter once they've left the theater."

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