Alien: Romulus is acting as a love letter to Ridley Scott’s franchise in every way possible. Going back to the roots of the original series and where it all began, fans have seen many similarities between the first film and the most recent addition to the series in teasers and trailers. One of the more emotional references made by the new film to its past was Ian Holm’s cameo in the movie.
With Ash’s character making his way into the series after years and the passing of the man who played him, many fans were reduced to tears when they saw him. During a recent interview, the director of the film, Fede Álvarez, revealed how this came to be and the thoughts of Holm’s family to see him in the film after his death.
Fede Álvarez Was Very Mindful About The Cameo In Alien: Romulus
While the thought of bringing Ian Holm’s Ash back into the Alien universe was quite thoughtful, bringing someone back who has passed away was not going to be simple for Fede Álvarez. During an interview with Variety, the director talked about how he wanted to bring back Ash and how cautiously he approached the entire conversation.
One of the main things that Álvarez was concerned about was the family of Holm. He did not want to disrespect their memory in the slightest. Having lost his father around the same time that the legendary actor passed, he was going into the conversations with the mindset that the cameo would be too soon for them.
The first thing I did was personally call his widow, family and kids to make sure everybody was on board with this idea.
He started by contacting Sophie de Stempel, Holm’s wife, to make sure that she was fine with him coming back as a nod to his impact on the franchise. What she had to say to him was quite surprising.
Ian Holm’s Family Was Happy About The Cameo
Sophie de Stempel told Fede Álvarez some very interesting information about her late husband, Ian Holm. It would seem that in the last ten years of his life, he felt as though Hollywood had forgotten about him. Even though he was a legend for the Alien franchise and made great contributions to the Academy, as he grew older, the jobs that he was getting offered started to lessen.
His widow told me that Ian felt, in the last 10 years of his life, Hollywood turned a cold shoulder to him and that he didn’t get many offers,
He was rarely offered any projects, and this stirred feelings of underappreciation within him. Stempel told Álvarez that he would have loved to come back into the Alien franchise if they had given him an offer when he was still alive. Now, after his passing, the franchise was able to at least honor his memory.
And she said he would have loved to be invited back into ‘Alien,’ because he loved Ridley and he loved that franchise.
It is safe to say that Álvarez was extremely cautious and respectful when he approached the idea of bringing Ash back into the franchise.
Alien: Romulus is out in theaters.
