♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Somebody give me a straight answer.

-It's a hull breach.

-The fact that we were in science fiction allowed us to break all kinds of rules that were still active in the film world.

Like, women have to be sympathetic, they have to look good, you know, and all these ridiculous things.

And -- and I didn't have any of those limitations.

I just got to play a real person, figuring it out.

♪♪ -To see a powerful woman, one who wields weapons, power, one who gets angry and gets revenge, power, that's -- we were treated to that just at the right time.

♪♪ -I think it's a damn good movie that Ridley made, and I'm very proud of it.

And I know how lucky I was that that was sort of how I launched into space.

♪♪ -Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting.

-In 1979, two years after "Star Wars" opened, 20th Century Fox releases the movie "Alien" in cinemas.

On the opening weekend, "Alien" grosses $3.5 million U.S., a huge amount by the standards of the time.

-Americans are becoming more and more... -The reporter is astonished.

Even children are allowed to watch it.

-Are you sorry, sir, that you brought your son along to see "Alien"?

-No, ma'am.

I think he should have seen it.

It's something that he needs to know, that things like that could happen in life.

That could be a true story.

-We take him to see a lot of horror pictures and things because we like horror movies.

We're horror buffs, I guess.

-Would you recommend to your little friends who are your age to go see it?

-Uh, no, I wouldn't.

-[ Roars ] -Overnight, Sigourney Weaver is thrust into the spotlight, something the then-29-year-old was not expecting.

In her first interviews, the acclaimed actress is still shy and inexperienced.

-Uh, well, this -- see, this will give New York a bad name.

I find New York a very safe place to live.

I have been in a couple of situations where I, where I suddenly was very afraid of being mugged or something like that, or disappearing into a back alley, but, I mean, I've never -- I've never been afraid of anything that wasn't human, you know?

-Sigourney, thank you for talking with us today.

-Thank you.

Pleasure to be here.

-Very nice having a chance to get to meet you.

-Yes.

-I was curious -- -Hope that was all right.

I actually was very uncomfortable with the fame of it, because it was not really my plan to become a film star, but I think my parents were very relieved that I might be able to make a living in what they knew was a very tough business.

-Even for the daughter of a famous pioneer of television, there was no easy way into the movie industry.

Sigourney Weaver was born on October 8, 1949, in New York, as Susan Alexandra Weaver.

Her mother was a film and theater actress.

Her father had many roles, one being a producer.

In the 1950s, he became the president of NBC, the television and radio network.

-My father certainly has always inspired me.

You know, he created "The Today Show," "The Tonight Show," the magazine format.

He was the first to put opera and ballet on television.

And he always joked that I was the star, and he was the asteroid sort of circling around the Earth.

I had a very short mother.

She always wanted to be as tall as I am.

She always said she wanted to move to Japan so she could tower over people.

So, I knew that -- you know, I was this tall, when I was 11, which was a bit horrible -- but I knew someday I'd be comfortable with it, and I didn't want to do this.

And then I think in the end, my height protected me from working on very conventional films with conventional directors.

-As a teenager, Susan decides to change her name to Sigourney, inspired by a character in a famous novel.

-I took it from "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I must say it's sort of an eccentric thing to do, but I do think it's a pretty name, and I was looking for a longer name because I was so tall.

-After high school, Sigourney attends Stanford University, where she studies English literature.

Here, she also has her first acting experience.

♪♪ In 1974, two years after completing her bachelor's degree in English Lit, she receives her master's degree in fine arts from the Yale School of Drama.

But for Sigourney, her time there was not always pleasant.

-Well, when I was at drama school, they told me I had no talent and that I would never get anywhere.

So, you know, even now, when I have a tough scene or a tough day, I go, "Oh, God, they were right."

And, uh, I think bad teachers like that can make a terrible impression on people and that it really is an abuse of power.

-Sigourney leaves Yale without much self-confidence, but she's not discouraged.

She moves back to New York City and starts acting in Off-Off-Broadway plays near Times Square.

She dreams of a career on Broadway.

In 1977, she gets a chance to prove her talent in front of the camera.

Sigourney has a small role in Woody Allen's movie "Annie Hall."

The following year, she appears in an advertisement for a well-known beverage.

♪♪ -♪ Come on, come on, and have a Pepsi day ♪ -♪ Join the Pepsi generation ♪ -Sigourney gets her big break in 1979, when she takes on the role of Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the movie "Alien."

Traditionally, this role would have been played by a man.

A new era begins.

"Alien" establishes a strong female character who is authoritative and defies men.

She becomes a role model for millions of women.

-Could die in 24 hours.

Open the hatch.

-Listen to me.

If we break quarantine, we could all die.

-Look.

Could you open the goddamn hatch?

We have to get him inside.

-No, I can't do that.

And if you were in my position, you'd do the same.

-I feel like being tall and having that physical sense was, actually, looking back, important for Ripley.

She did need to move.

And she went from being, you know, a sort of young ensign who was very much by the book to someone who was just living by her animal senses.

-A few years before Sigourney Weaver revolutionizes the action genre, Pam Grier in "Foxy Brown" and Carrie Fisher in "Star Wars" as Princess Leia are already fighting evil armed with pistols.

In the late 1970s, Sigourney's character Ripley goes even further.

In "Alien," she fights for her life against a creature from another planet armed with a flamethrower.

-Anyone can pick up a gun.

What does that take?

But to physically do harm to someone, and you're the good guy, and you're doing harm to the bad person, that's all good.

So, put a crack in the egg, or rather a crack in the ceiling, the glass ceiling of who's kicking whose ass.

-Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror movie deliberately redefines the role of women in cinema and paves the way for Sigourney Weaver to become a Hollywood star.

The modern action heroine is born.

-When I read the script, I thought, "Well, this certainly wasn't what I had in mind when I thought of eventually moving into films."

I always thought I'd sort of work my way up in small roles, and I played a lot of character parts.

I've never played a heroine, you know?

-Women on the big screen are now no longer only victims or accessories.

They are strong heroines who communicate with a powerful body language, different from the norm.

-It didn't really surprise me in the late 1970s to see a female action hero.

The '70s were, after all, a decade of women's liberation.

So, of course, if you're going to have a female action hero who's powerful, the clothing is going to be very masculine.

The tank top is masculine, very, goes back to, you know, sort of Marlon Brando.

But then the bikini underpants and the nipple are signaling that she's female.

She's like androgynous.

It's kind of male-female styling of the underwear.

-What exactly were the kinds of women in action movies, even in movies like James Bond?

They look like dolls... ...even when they were playing bad guys.

There was often a female villain in the James Bond movies, but it was a villain in a swimsuit or in an evening gown.

"Alien" was a different kind of film -- the transition to a real heroine who didn't look like a doll.

-While Doris Day was still playing clichéd female roles into the 1960s in elegant clothing, charmingly seducing men, Officer Ellen Ripley fought alien creatures wearing work clothes and armed with heavy weapons, just like a man.

-The actual weapons are just another set of phallic symbols, which are very important for male viewers in particular, who are extremely attached to their penises and sort of phallic substitutes thereof.

They would make Ripley feel more powerful and be more powerful.

-Parker, when I say.

All right, now.

-Easy.

-[ Hisses ] -I don't think it would have been an obvious call for directors, producers, writers to say, "Let's have a woman who's powerful and kicks ass and kicks men's ass in the show."

You can do that in science fiction in ways you can't normally tell the same story in the real world.

-After the global success of "Alien," Sigourney Weaver becomes a much sought-after movie actress.

She begins to establish herself playing strong women who can hold their own, who, even without heavy weapons, are on equal footing with men, a woman who knows how to charmingly contradict men, as in the 1982 movie "The Year of Living Dangerously," in which she stars alongside Mel Gibson.

She plays an embassy employee who has a love affair with a reporter shortly before civil war breaks out in Indonesia.

-When did you go to Saigon?

-A long time ago.

-Pretty arrogant lot, aren't they?

-Who?

-The French.

-[ Laughs ] I find them absolutely charming.

[ Thunder rumbles ] -I think you had to be a bit mad to think of Sigourney Weaver to play the girlfriend, like in "The Year of Living Dangerously."

You know, the idea when I started out was very much short, perky, blond, blue-eyed, you know, really built.

And I was grateful to my height for sparing me those projects.

-Sigourney Weaver's unconventional height turns out to be an advantage in the years that follow.

-"Ghostbusters."

-Hey, anybody see a ghost?

-In the fantasy comedy "Ghostbusters," she plays a young woman who becomes possessed by the demigod Zuul... [ Electricity crackling ] -Dana?

-...a strong female role in the midst of a strong male ensemble cast.

-There was so much support for me.

They were so, first of all, so glad to have me with them because they wanted to make that part stronger.

And they wanted, I think, to have someone who would be a good foil for Bill Murray, you know.

-The movie also allows the actress to showcase her comedic talent.

-That's a different look for you, isn't it?

-Are you the key master?

-Not that I know of.

-"Ghostbusters" grosses over $200 million U.S. worldwide, making it the most successful comedy at the time.

-A good actor will deliver good lines.

A better actor becomes the character, and that's what I've noticed about Sigourney Weaver in every one of her roles, including "Ghostbusters" -- okay?

-- where, if I remember correctly, she was possessed by the ghosts of another era, Egyptian ghosts or something.

It's fantasy, but that worked for me.

-Despite her international success, Weaver remains true to herself, and, like many other women, she believes in real love.

-Is it a rumor or is it fact?

You're getting married.

-I'm getting married.

-There it is.

Oh, let's see.

-Oh, good.

You're really going to take an interest.

I love it.

-Yes.

Oh, that's lovely.

-I'm getting married to a man named Jim Simpson, who's a director.

And this is his grandmother's ring, which I got -- we went to visit his family in Honolulu.

His family lives in Honolulu.

So, um, I got the ring there.

-That same year, Sigourney Weaver marries the love of her life, Jim Simpson.

In the mid-1980s, in "Ghostbusters II," "One Woman or Two," and "Deal of the Century," Weaver shows that she can play more than just action heroes.

She can be sensual, humorous, sexy, and a passionate mother.

However, an important milestone of her career is once again a sci-fi movie, "Aliens," the second film in the franchise.

In the movie, directed by James Cameron, the iconic action heroine develops maternal feelings.

When she and a little girl called Newt find themselves in danger, Ripley protects Newt against the alien queen with all her might.

-You know, one thing that strikes me that's interesting about the "Alien" and "Alien" series is how the monsters seem to represent a kind of monstrous feminine.

And so, from that point of view, with all this viscous, horrible, globby monster, she has to be an armored phallic person to fight them.

It's important that she's got a hard body and that she's got all this weaponry.

-I would make a lot of jokes about myself being "Rambolina," with all these guns, which I -- I really detest guns.

And I thought, "How am I in this movie?"

-This movie is loaded with guns.

-You know, and I sort of read the script without even noticing the guns because it doesn't glorify them, except it does.

It says you shouldn't depend on guns, and, at the same time, aren't they beautiful?

You know?

So... -While the men injure themselves, aren't up to the task, or break under pressure, Ripley embodies the mother figure, fighting with determination and vehemence.

-They're cut off.

-Hudson, move your ass!

-Do something!

-Let's go, Marine!

Come on, baby.

-Hold on, Newt.

-The fun parts of that was to watch her get angry.

Okay?

And I think at one point she calls the alien a bitch.

I think.

[ Alarm blaring, footsteps approaching ] -Get away from her, you bitch!

-[ Hisses ] -And she has powerful, futuristic weaponry to then take this alien out, okay?

And so that's good.

That's a start.

-With "Aliens," James Cameron once again ushers in a new era for the role of women in cinema.

Two years after turning bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger into a brutal cyborg, the director establishes a woman as a high-tech fighting machine.

-Male heroes are boring.

They have been done, and there have been a lot of them lately, too.

And there's been a return to the male as superhero, super-macho superhero.

And I've been, you know, even I was, you know, involved in "Rambo."

So, there's that, and there's a lot of other films, and it's getting a bit dull, right?

And we've got all of cinema history behind us, you know, 70 or 80 years, whatever it is.

And these are the archetypes.

There aren't that many archetypes for strong female protagonists.

And, you know, hell, here we are in the '80s.

We can start creating some.

You know, it's fun.

It's a bit challenging.

[ Whirring ] -Took some practice to get used to it.

It is a sort of frightening thing because, first of all, I'm, like, in this iron cage and I liked having everything just disappear except that sort of samurai idea.

-For her role in "Aliens," Sigourney Weaver is said to have received $1 million U.S., nearly 30 times as much as for the first "Alien" film.

Her interpretation of Ellen Ripley takes Weaver to the Academy Awards for the first time in 1987, where she's nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

-What do you think your chances are, Sigourney?

-What do I think my chances are?

Very slim.

-Well, you broke an all-time rule that states science-fiction films don't get nominations.

-Yeah, I'm very proud of that.

-As far as the producer of "Aliens" is concerned, action films should now appeal to both men and women, addressing a wider audience.

-Was there a special energy that you brought to the role of Sigourney Weaver here?

-I think Sigourney has got everything to do with her character.

I don't think she needed any help at all.

-You're not going to take any credit for that?

-No, not for Sigourney.

-Okay.

-I think women, not only in the genre but in other genres, tend to be either girlfriends or victims and are ancillary to the male hero.

And I think hopefully with "Aliens," we're establishing a new trend towards strong women characters who are the focus of the action and the story itself.

-"Aliens" opens the door for many new action heroines -- Nikita in 1990, Sarah Connor in "Terminator 2" in '91, and Leloo in "The Fifth Element" in '97, followed by Trinity, Lara Croft, Alice, and Beatrix Kiddo.

They become iconic characters who bring in millions at the box office.

-What "Alien" did for sure is telling that there is also another audience for this kind of movie because, again, if you look at the movies done much later in the '90s and then in the new millennium, "Resident Evil," "Lara Croft," these are clearly movies that target both men and women, and the leading character is shaped in such a way that really appeals more to women than to men.

-With her Oscar nomination, Sigourney Weaver makes the leap from action hero to Hollywood star.

Two years later, two more nominations follow.

In 1989, she's nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the modern satire "Working Girl" and for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the drama "Gorillas in the Mist."

-You know, I think "Gorillas in the Mist" was a very important movie.

I think it contributed to helping people know about the mountain gorillas, and I still work with them.

On the other hand, with "Working Girl," we had so much fun working on that.

Playing that character was a dream.

So, that was a great honor to be nominated for both those performances, which were worlds apart.

-In "Working Girl," she plays an exalted Wall Street banker spoiled by success.

-Tess, it's me.

I'm back!

Thanks.

[ Sighs ] -She took a muscle relaxer for the flight down.

-Oh, let's all have one, shall we?

-I don't think so.

-Oh, telephone -- I need a telephone.

Oh, Tess, take care of the bags.

I'll meet you at the car.

-In "Gorillas in the Mist," Sigourney Weaver plays the murdered primate researcher Dian Fossey with real gorillas as co-actors.

-[ Screeching ] -Gorillas were part of Dian Fossey's study group, and we couldn't -- we couldn't really coerce them into doing anything we had in mind.

I was afraid in certain incidents because I just knew that I really didn't know anything, and if something had happened, I wouldn't quite have known how to deal with it.

-Dian Fossey despised the rise of gorilla tourism and the brutal exploitation of nature.

[ Woman speaking native language ] Poaching is also an issue that concerns Weaver.

-Please?

Sembagare?

-We tend to think of animals as sort of third-class citizens of our planet, and we sort of try to figure out where they should live and how we should study them, as if they're sort of not equals.

And I think the main issue that comes out is that the gorillas are so like us that if there's any way we can help preserve their species, we're closer to knowing how to preserve our own.

-Sigourney Weaver does not receive an Oscar for either of these roles in 1989, but she wins the Golden Globe twice for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and for Best Supporting Actress.

-I'm just delighted.

I couldn't be prouder.

-In the same year, the actress can be seen in another blockbuster, "Ghostbusters II," and on the red carpet.

-Tell me what summer movies you're most looking forward to.

-"Ghostbusters II," "Ghostbusters II," and "Ghostbusters II."

[ Laughter ] -In the second part of the "Ghostbusters" franchise, Weaver again plays Dana Barrett, who is now a single mother, and will do anything to protect her baby from being kidnapped by ghosts.

-Stop!

-Get it!

[ Horn honks ] ♪♪ -That's my baby!

Watch out!

[ Horn honks, tires screech ] Oscar!

Watch out!

My God!

[ Horn honking ] -Her role reflects every aspect of being a mother.

-It was really nice to play a nice, normal person for a change and a mother.

I wanted to be possessed, but instead Ivan thought playing a mother was as intense.

So -- and I had a lovely time.

-At the peak of Sigourney Weaver's career, the subject of children also becomes the private focus for the 39-year-old actress.

-Sigourney, every year about this time, I go around asking people like yourself if they could have anything in the world for Christmas, something tangible that you could see and feel and all, what would you most like to have?

-A baby.

[ Laughs ] Under the tree.

-[ Laughs ] You're so busy.

When are you going to find the time?

-Well, that's more important than all this stuff.

So, you have to make the time.

-With the birth of her daughter, Charlotte, her wish comes true.

Sigourney Weaver is a star and yet remains authentic for her fans, far removed from any Hollywood affectations.

-I think that when I've been in high-pressure situations, I always try to act like a gentleman.

You know, I'm not going to go banging into my trailer because something bad happens, you know?

And I'm always on time.

I'm always, you know, I just feel like I don't want people to wait around for me.

My job is not more important than everybody else.

You know, we're all there to make the film as good as possible.

-Sigourney is the type of actress who studied her craft.

She plays roles.

She loves to act.

She's a real perfectionist.

I have never seen Sigourney Weaver on set saying how the lighting needs to be done, or just leaves to go to her trailer once the scene is over, although if she had, nobody would have been bothered.

But, above all, she's an actress who embodies an enormous range of characters.

♪♪ ♪♪ -She was always a Hollywood star when she worked with Helmut Newton, even when she did fashion photographs with him.

In Monte Carlo, for example, he photographed her in 1991 for the "Alien 3" movie.

And there she basically slipped into the role of Ellen Ripley.

-I like the way the body was going.

Yeah, put the chin up.

Just stay -- just stay like this.

We can't catch them all.

-Just relax.

-Ahh!

I look like King Kong in that shot.

-Look -- look after -- -[ Roars ] -Many of his fashion photographs could be film stills by Truffaut, Godard, or Louis Malle.

And he often plays with that idea.

This is wonderfully exemplified by Sigourney Weaver.

♪♪ -In the 1980s and '90s, Sigourney Weaver is photographed several times by the renowned German fashion photographer Helmut Newton.

He first photographs her in 1983, in L.A., during a fashion shoot for Italian Vogue.

In front of Newton's camera, Sigourney Weaver appears, as in her film roles, a strong woman presenting herself to the world with confidence.

♪♪ ♪♪ -I would say Sigourney Weaver almost always played a role for Newton's camera, but sometimes she's herself.

♪♪ She allowed Newton to work with semi-transparent fabrics, so sometimes her breasts even appear in the photographs, which is relatively unusual for a Hollywood actress.

-I remember doing the poster for "Death and the Maiden."

I guess I wasn't wearing a bra, and he said, "Oh."

He said, "Maybe try these."

He pulled two nipples out of his shirt pocket.

So, I dutifully put those on.

He said, "No, yours are better," you know.

So, he was just -- he was a hell of a guy.

I just loved him.

♪♪ ♪♪ I didn't like the first day I worked with him.

He was always telling me to do this, do that.

-[ Speaking native language ] Come a little bit to your right, a little bit.

-I finally said, "You know, I'm not a puppet.

I'm an actor.

I'm not a model."

-There, there, there.

-It wasn't an intellectual thing.

I felt it opened up a whole realm of fantasy.

So, I wasn't playing a role, but I was letting, if you will, a little madness show.

And I know that when I got to play Zuul in "Ghostbusters," I thought, "This is for Helmut."

You know, because she's this sexy, strange, possessed girl.

I felt like I was totally in Helmut land.

-A few months after her collaboration with Helmut Newton in Monte Carlo, she once again plays Ellen Ripley in the third "Alien" movie.

♪♪ Although Sigourney Weaver is now in her early 40s and the mother of a young child, she refuses to be forced into conventional female roles.

In "Copycat," she plays a psychologist suffering from an anxiety disorder just as convincingly as a torture victim in "Death and the Maiden" or the First Lady in "Dave."

-Why can't you die from a stroke like everybody else?

-She hates me.

-Yes!

-Yes!

-He talked about science and philosophy.

He liked to quote Nietzsche.

-Nietzsche?

-She's mad.

She needs therapy.

-You are her therapy.

-I'm not crazy!

[ Laughs ] -What the... are you laughing at, bitch?

Huh?

-[ Laughs ] -What the... are you laughing at?!

-What are you waiting for?

Go ahead.

-This is a quality.

She can be different people at the same time.

She can be sweet, and she can be very strong.

She has a body language not only in "Alien" but in other film that is different from other body language.

-At the end of the 1990s, in her signature role as Ellen Ripley, she once again captivates audiences with her unique body language.

-"Alien" is like the central pillar of her career, and I think this can always be a trap.

With the star system, it's always a very delicate balance between the process of recognizing someone and the other feeling of being surprised.

So, I go and watch a film with Sigourney Weaver because I want to recognize her.

At the same time, I hope that she doesn't perform the same character as before.

So, it's always very effective when there is a little bit of recognizement but also a little bit of surprise.

And I think she managed to put these things together in a very clever way.

-In "Alien Resurrection," the fourth of the "Alien" franchise, the reborn Ripley has gained superhuman strength through cloning.

[ Basketball bouncing ] -Come on now.

Give me the ball.

-In the film, by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ripley appears as a kind of superwoman but without the cape and colorful outfit.

-Okay, I got a new game.

Tag.

-With Sigourney Weaver... -What the hell are you?

-...even a seemingly impossible basketball shot becomes a reality.

-[ Chuckles ] -And the basketball scene?

Like, did you really...?

-Yeah, of course I did.

I really studied.

I had a wonderful teacher.

And, um, I really practiced that back shot.

That was a sort of strange day because I did it on the fourth try.

I was about 23 feet away, and you heard the tinkle of the metal basket.

And the crew, uh, all clapped.

Everyone was astonished.

Certainly I was.

And then I looked over, and Jean-Pierre was like... And I said, "What's the matter?

I just got it in.

It's like a miracle."

He said, "Yes, but it went out of the, it went out of the field.

You can't see it, or it'll look like we faked it.

And I've hired this man to do this shot."

And I said, "People will believe I did it, because I will tell everybody that I did it for the rest of my life."

-In this "Alien" movie, it's not just the character who discovers unexpected abilities within herself.

In a film that combines claustrophobic horror and sustained action, Weaver repeatedly goes beyond her own limits.

-You were going into the darkness with all the rest of the cast.

You couldn't see where you were going.

There were sharp objects everywhere.

You had to literally keep swimming until you had no breath.

Then you go like this.

Then you had to wait for a safety diver to come in, find you, and give you air, and then they would take you further down the tunnel to where you could come up.

♪♪ So, when I first saw what we were doing, I went home.

I said to my husband, "Well, I'm not going to be able to do this.

It's impossible.

It couldn't be worse."

And he said, "Yeah, you can't do it.

But Ripley can."

And I went, "Yeah, you're right.

Ripley can."

-A few months after the release of "Alien Resurrection," Sigourney Weaver attends the International Cannes Film Festival.

In 1983, she had presented one of her first films here, "The Year of Living Dangerously," with Mel Gibson.

After that, she's often seen at the French film festival.

♪♪ [ Applause ] In 1998, the 48-year-old is appointed a member of the festival's jury alongside stars such as Martin Scorsese, Winona Ryder, and Chiara Mastroianni.

-Frankly, I had a little child.

All I'd really seen for the last five years was Disney movies.

So, it was also for my husband and me, this fantastic experience of watching two or three films a day from all over the world, about so many different subjects, and then being able to, you know, I never went to film school.

So, suddenly you're sitting around talking with directors and actors and writers and producers about which film resonates the most for you.

And I just adored it.

I always pay attention to Cannes.

I'd love to go back.

-As a jury member at the 51st Cannes Film Festival, she presents herself with confidence and audacity in a semi-transparent dress far removed from stereotypical red-carpet gowns.

-I enjoy fashion, I enjoy color, and I just want to feel like myself.

I am not trying to be glamorous as much as comfortable and feeling easy and, uh, happy in these beautiful clothes.

I think some dude in America put me on the worst-dressed list that year because of what I wore at Cannes.

I thought, "You're just a philistine," you know?

-When you see her offscreen, you know, at events, for example, you find her in two different kinds of styles.

Much of the time it's classically feminine evening gowns or sort of red-carpet gowns, sometimes with a little bit of, I don't know, sort of science-fiction-y feeling to it.

But then you also have at other red-carpet events where she's dressed in a much more kind of androgynous way, and it's much more like a male evening dress.

And that, I think, has a kind of Dietrich-like androgynous power.

So, there could well be a sense that she's taking some of her action look and transforming it to a red-carpet look.

-Sigourney Weaver remains true to her image as an unpretentious, versatile Hollywood actress.

She refuses to be pinned down, neither in specific roles or genres, nor as a specific type of woman.

♪♪ -In general, actors are typecast in certain roles.

The great thing about her is she's taken roles and made them her own.

She hasn't just acted in blockbusters or played fantasy roles.

That's why she's unique and not like the others.

-Throughout her career, Sigourney Weaver has repeatedly set herself innovative challenges.

This is true for "Avatar," as well, which is partly shot in a virtual studio with newly developed 3-D cameras.

-It shouldn't be hard for you.

♪♪ -I don't know her in any weak roles in any film she's been in.

Yes, she's in "Avatar," but she's playing an astrobiologist.

That's not some weird futuristic profession.

I have friends who are astrobiologists, and I like seeing her strength expressed through her intellect, as a scientist, speaking as a scientist.

There is an excellent level of authenticity there.

-Sigourney Weaver uses her particular physical presence and strong female authority to credibly draw attention to taboo subjects in her films -- topics such as abortion, gender reassignment, and homosexuality.

In the TV film "Prayers for Bobby," she plays a devoutly religious mother who tries to cure her homosexual son of his supposed illness, up until she learns that her son has committed suicide.

♪♪ -He jumped off a bridge.

He's...he's gone.

♪♪ -Help me!

No.

[ Buzzing ] Help me!

My son is dead!

Let me out!

Let me out!

My son is dead!

Let me out!

[ Buzzing continues ] -You know, to me, it's always about the story.

What is this story about?

Is it about something more than the people in it?

Because if it's not, I'm really not interested.

Probably, I do consider the role, but to me, it's like, "Do I want to be part of this?

Is this something that I, I think is exciting and is maybe moving the needle a little bit?"

♪♪ -The great thing about her is, she continues to have a diverse career.

She also does independent films and is willing to take risks, which is something that not all American actresses do.

-Outside the film world, Sigourney Weaver is no less committed or political.

Since "Gorillas in the Mist," she has supported an organization founded by Dian Fossey to protect mountain gorillas.

She's a narrator in a documentary about ocean acidification.

She appears at a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama on Earth Day.

And at the Human Rights Campaign, the native New Yorker is honored with great enthusiasm as an ally of the queer community at a gala in her home city.

-Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Sigourney Weaver.

[ Crowd cheers ] -The Equality Act is a huge and meaningful step on the road to full equality, dignity, and security for the LGBT community, which really is our community.

We're all one.

As our wonderful governor said, you can't tell us here in New York that diversity doesn't work, that diversity isn't glorious, that it's not our differences that make us cool.

[ Applause ] -In a career spanning more than 40 years, Sigourney Weaver has appeared in over 60 films, during which she has helped create a more complex depiction of women -- tall and strong, sensitive and vulnerable, humorous and sensual, a fighter of aliens, a queen, a career woman, a mother.

It is also thanks to her that the role of women in cinema has progressed in recent decades.

♪♪ -I've been so fortunate.

I've worked with such incredible filmmakers and such fellow actors.

I've been lucky enough to be able to choose what I wanted to say with my work, you know, choosing scripts that are about something more than just the characters in it.

-Sigourney, straight ahead, right here.

Look straight.

-Straight ahead, Sigourney!

-Sigourney?

-There was only one role Sigourney Weaver had yet to play in Hollywood, that of a flamboyant Hollywood star.

She receives this opportunity in a French production in 2020.

In the hit series "Call My Agent," she's the epitome of the spoiled American film star -- opinionated, capricious, over-the-top.

-Mm-mm!

[ Chuckles ] -We know that Sigourney has a radiant personality and that she moves well.

But she's also funny.

She's very, very funny and enjoys playing comedic roles.

-Actors are always keen to play a horrible version of themselves.

You know, we know what horrible could be.

And, um, and I think that's all I was.

I just thought, "What if I was really difficult, really hard to please, really spoiled, you know?"

And it was fun to me to play the opposite of, you know, what I try to be in real life.

-It's boring!

-Okay, I get it.

Okay, fine.

-[ Sighs ] -At the time, I said yes before I'd read the script because I thought, "I don't care what it is.

I will make it work."

I did have to make quite a few suggestions.

But I think, you know, that's the whole point is to send yourself up in something like this.

And to get to work with those wonderful actors, to get to work in France and with a French crew, which I have done before, was just heaven, heaven on earth.

♪♪ -Sigourney knows France very well.

I think she loves fashion.

She goes to fashion shows and seems to be really interested in them.

I haven't talked to her about art, but I think she also goes to see exhibitions.

I don't know if she has the French Legion of Honor.

Maybe she should be given the award.

That would be good.

I'll ask President Macron about that.

-More than 20 years after her fashion sense was criticized at Cannes, iconic action hero Sigourney Weaver has become a fashion icon.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] ♪♪ -I'm not sure it's fashion.

To me, it's more of a social statement about where that designer thinks women are, what clothes are doing for us now.

I think they're much more practical, and I think a lot of it is much more fun.

-At the Paris fashion shows, she again displays a form of androgynous strength, a la Marlene Dietrich.

She's both a global star and an action hero when she combines a simple T-shirt with a glittering haute-couture jacket, like here.

-I think it was sequined.

It was navy sequined.

It was very beautiful.

I had to give it back right away.

[ Both laugh ] -I like your tone of voice.

-I would have loved to keep it, but it was a sample, which is what you often wear when you go to these things.

So, I love that aspect of it, too.

You know, that I'm Cinderella.

Everything goes back, or it turns into a pumpkin.

You know, that's fine with me.

♪♪ -Forty-five years after its premiere, "Alien" still attracts enthusiastic audiences to cinemas.

For her fans, Sigourney Weaver remains the immortal queen of sci-fi.

-What do you think about Sigourney Weaver?

-Oh, she's an amazing actress.

I love her, and her performances are always very intense and very intelligent.

I love that all of her emotions are clearly seen on her face.

-She's just great, sincerely, and I love her and her work.

She's such a strong woman.

-Yes, she's certainly a great woman.

She's getting better and better.

The second part is even cooler, when she's inside the robot and kicks the alien out -- what a great scene.

-Sigourney Weaver's appearance in the "Alien" movies paved the way for a whole new generation of iconic female superheroes.

Since then, characters such as Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Wonder Woman have conquered the big screen.

These female action heroes display a presence and strength that is both commercially entertaining and socially revolutionary.

-I think women still are yearning for just to be taken seriously as someone who works a power loader.

We're still wanting that kind of respect and equality in our real lives, and I think that it's one reason why Ripley still resonates for us, because she's not well-treated, and she's underestimated and ignored.

So, we really need movies to inspire us and help us keep going.

-Action heroines have the power to shatter clichéd roles, establishing female characters in pop culture that strike fear into the hearts not only of aliens.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪