Actress Sigourney Weaver is recognized as a figure in science fiction and popular culture and rose to fame with Ridley Scott’s Alien in 1979. Her character Ellen Ripley is regarded as one of the most significant female protagonists in cinema history. She reprised Ellen Ripley’s character in 1986’s Aliens by James Cameron and later in 1992’ Alien 3 and 1997’s Alien Resurrection.
Known as one of the finest actresses in the entertainment industry, Sigourney Weaver reunited with James Cameron for his successful movie Avatar in 2009 and later in 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water. The actress has always been appreciated for portraying the characters on-screen with utmost honesty and perfection. The actress was being considered for a significant role in X-Men: The Last Stand but fans believe that it was right that she was not part of the movie.
Sigourney Weaver was considered to play Emma Frost in X-Men: The Last Stand
According to reports by Superhero Hype, back in 2004, X2: X-Men United screenwriter Dan Harris revealed that if filmmaker Bryan Singer directed 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, the audience would have seen Sigourney Weaver as Emma Frost. He said,
“We were going to do X-Men 3 for a little while and our big secret or coup was-and it’s not going to happen so it’s ok—we wanted to have a character that was Emma Frost, a famous X-Men character. She’s called the White Queen.”
The screenwriter continued that they were going to ask Sigourney Weaver to portray the character on-screen. Harris mentioned that the actress was an empath in their version of the movie, which meant that she could control people’s emotions. The character debuted as a villain in Uncanny X-Men issue #129 and her features include the fact that she is telepathic White Queen of the Hellfire Club.
Bryan Singer who had left the project to work on Superman Returns, returned to direct 2011’s X-Men: First Class which is when actress January Jones was introduced as Emma Frost. Fans believed that if Bryan Singer had gone ahead with his choice to cast Sigourney Weaver as Emma Frost, it wouldn’t have set right with them as the actress seemed a little older than the character she was suggested to play.
X-Men: The Last Stand received mixed responses from the audience and the critics who went ahead to deem the movie inferior to its predecessors.
Sigourney Weaver on why she changed her name to ‘Sigourney’ from ‘Susan’
Sigourney Weaver whose real name is Susan Alexandra Weaver at the age of 13 changed her name to Sigourney after she realized that her nickname was too sweet for her. She shared with CBC Radio’s Q,
“When I was about 14, I was reading The Great Gatsby and I picked it out of book. I guess I was bored with my name, which was Susan. I look back with amazement at that decision.”
Despite her father Pat Weaver being one of the creators of The Tonight Show and her mother Elizabeth Inglis being an established actress, Sigourney Weaver never aspired to be an actress and enter the entertainment industry. She explained,
“I didn’t ever have any…revelation that I wanted to be an actress. I applied to a drama school when I was finishing college, and I got in, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s a good sign’.”
Talking about her legacy in an interview with EW, she said that she feels flattered when actresses talk about Ellen Ripley adding that at the time it was a fresh idea to have a woman be the hero instead of a man and the character holds up.
1979’s Alien is streaming on Prime Video.
