Reviving the iconic Alien franchise, Ridley Scott’s 2012 Prometheus received mixed reviews from critics. While most praised the movie for its stunning visuals and bold concepts, a few criticized the filmmaker for underdeveloped characters. However, amidst it all, there was one spine-chilling moment in the movie starring Noomi Rapace.
In Prometheus, Scott aimed to address two long-standing mysteries troubling the audiences. First, identifying the Space Jockey encountered by the Nostromo crew and the origins of the terrifying Xenomorph.
Whose idea was it to include the scene in the movie?
While die-hard Alien fans were in splits about Ridley Scott‘s decision to shift towards exploring android David and the enigmatic Engineers over the Xenomorph’s origins, there was one aspect that garnered unanimous acclaim: the spine-chilling C-section scene featuring archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), who uses a MedPod 720i to extract a rapidly growing squid-like creature from her abdomen.
This unforgettable scene, though now infamous, unfolded when Rapace’s character Elizabeth Shaw is unknowingly subjected to an experiment involving an eerie deadly black goo, recovered from an Engineer’s crashed ship. During an interview with Wired, writer Damon Lindelof revealed that the creepy concept was his idea.
“It is going to be scary, it is going to be visceral, and it is going to play into every woman’s fear of something wrong with the baby inside.”
Interestingly, before Lindelof’s involvement, the $403 million project was originally conceived as a straightforward Alien prequel titled Alien: Engineers. Reportedly, Jon Spaihts, known for his work on Doctor Strange and Dune: Part One helmed the project as the writer.
While discussing the concept of the C-section, Lindelof said that the idea of Shaw giving birth to a squid creature was originally included in Spaihts’ script, where it was described as a chest-burster akin to the Xenomorph in the original Alien.
Noomi Rapace opened up on the filming of the spine-chilling childbirth scene
Despite Lindelof’s ideas, it was Noomi Rapace who brought the scene to life on the silver screen. To ensure authenticity, the actress chose to put practical effects over the use of CGI. However, little did she know that her decision would cause her to experience disturbing dreams as an after-effect.
“I had two dreams that I remember today. I woke up and I went into the loo, saw myself in the mirror, and I realized I had some kind of black veins that began to spread over my whole body. I started to wash my hands and thought the water was going to stop it somehow.”
But that wasn’t even the scariest one. While talking about her second dream, the actress revealed that she felt so terrified that she couldn’t stop crying.
“I never felt exposed like, ‘I’m this girl, half-naked in front of the crew, screaming and crying and going through this very disturbed situation.’ It really felt like the two of us [Scott and I] inside of it.”
Based on the experiences of Rapace, it is clear how Scott, who was already famous for his penchant for imbibing violent and disturbing scenes in his works, pushed all boundaries in the Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender starring movie. While another sequel, Alien: Covenant, released in 2017 tried to match the level of body horror with a gruesome birth scene, Elizabeth Shaw’s C-section still remains a classic moment in cinematic horror.
Source: Wired
