re: Alien. 45th Anniversery....Just saw it in a theater!

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At the time of filming, the biggest names in the cast were probably Skerritt and Yaphet Kotto (Parker), with Veronica Cartwright (Lambert) also having some roles such as the Body Snatchers film a year or two before.

Sigourney Weaver was a nobody whose main experience was doing stage acting.



That entire crew went on to have long careers and is a great example of how having an excellent casting director can make or break a film. Being able to pick a great ensemble cast and identifying talent which is not yet mainstream are both big things that can boost a production, especially given that Scott made the most unknown cast member the final girl.

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Thanks for posting this. What a great story within a story. Alien is one of my all-time faves, and I was unaware of this behind-the-scenes stuff. I always assumed Weaver had some screen experience under her belt at the time; otherwise, they wouldn't have casted her as the eventual main protagonist and heroine.

Talk about directorial wisdom and vision. Wow.

And what a masterful job of subtly setting up Ripley as the main protagonist without the audience even realizing it. I wish I could go back in time and watch Alien without already knowing Ripley as the protagonist of the trilogy. Man, that must've been thrilling to watch, genuinely not knowing what was going to happen.