Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
The Emotional Reason 'Alien: Romulus' Brought Back That Spoiler Character: ‘It Was One Of The Best Memories Of His Life’
Cinema Blend
Follow
2 days ago
Interview with Writer / Director / Producer Fede Álvarez
Category
🎥
Short film
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
I'd love to discuss the use of Ash, and obviously the great Ian Holm.
00:03
I'd love to know what was that process like, and I guess if there are rules,
00:08
what are the rules for something like that now?
00:10
Do you guys reach out to his estate and see how they feel about it?
00:12
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it started with, because I knew I was going to build an animatronic for it, right?
00:19
I knew I was going to build an animatronic that was going to be,
00:21
I wasn't going to put an actor through the table.
00:24
I wasn't going to get someone to put the torso through a table and pretend they're animatronic.
00:30
So I was like, if it's supposed to be a robot, let's build a robot.
00:33
That's what it should be.
00:35
And I knew the limitations of the technology would be justified because it's a malfunctioning robot,
00:39
so it wasn't supposed to work perfectly.
00:42
So I was like, good, we can do that.
00:44
So once we decide that, we knew it could look however we wanted,
00:49
because it wasn't going to be an actor.
00:50
We have to mold a face and create a face.
00:52
And so talking with Ridley, we both came up with this idea that we both agreed that it was unfair
00:59
that Lance Henriksen came back so many times and Michael Fassbender did it a couple of times.
01:04
And there was all these actors that got to play different synthetics,
01:08
but the best one of them all, Ian Holm, didn't get to do it twice.
01:12
So he was really good friends with Ian, and he thought he would have loved to do it.
01:16
But still, the first thing I did was personally, I called his widow
01:20
and pitched the idea to her and make sure that she talked with his kids
01:25
and make sure the whole family was on board with this idea, you know,
01:29
because he had passed away not too long ago.
01:31
And actually, my dad passed away the same year that Ian Holm did,
01:34
so I know how delicate that can be.
01:36
So I just want to make sure that they were okay with it.
01:39
And, you know, his widow agreed that, you know, Ian, in the last years of his life,
01:45
he kind of felt the cold shoulder of Hollywood,
01:47
that he wasn't called for many projects and nothing interesting.
01:53
And he would have loved to get the call to be part of Alien again
01:56
because he loved that character and he loved the character of Ash,
02:00
and he was one of the best members of his life.
02:02
So they told us that it was okay to do it.
02:06
And then also, what I never really tried to do is I never tried to recreate it in a home.
02:11
That's impossible.
02:12
There's no technology that can bring the talent of an actor,
02:14
the nuances of their performance.
02:16
There's no way we can know what it would do.
02:18
All we approach it from the point of view of, like, recreating a likeness, a face.
02:24
But the character is different.
02:25
It's a different character.
02:26
It's called Rook and has a different personality.
02:28
So the style could be different, and we hired an actor to play the voice
02:35
and the performance that translated into the animatronic.
02:40
So it was this whole incredible, you know, amazing adventure that implied,
02:46
also, in a way, to hire a lot of people to do it.
02:50
It was this whole adventure.
02:51
But we're really proud of it.
02:52
Actually, I wish you could see this,
02:54
but I was just showing someone the incredible head that, look at this.
03:01
You'll get to see it.
03:02
I don't know.
03:02
I don't know if you get to see it.
03:03
Do you get to see it?
03:04
Oh, yeah.
03:05
That's cool.
03:06
Look at that.
03:07
Yes.
03:08
That's so sick.
03:11
Oh, my God.
03:13
That's incredible.
03:15
That is amazing.
03:16
That's the head, the whole body, the guys from Legacy, you know,
03:22
Shane Mayhem, who did The Queen on Aliens and all the team,
03:25
like, they took on the challenge.
03:28
We find a head cast of Ian Holm from Lord of the Rings that he did for,
03:32
it's the only one that existed from 1999 that he did when he was starting
03:37
to play Bilbo.
03:39
So we went out, workshop, had it,
03:41
and that was the beginning of the molding of this face.
03:46
And then, you know, if you see the movie,
03:47
you need some CG for the lips in some moments,
03:50
and there's some shots that needed that.
03:52
But a lot of the shots, it's just you just look at the animatronic,
03:54
which I think is amazing.
Recommended
1:35:23
|
Up next
CEO's Wife Spoiled By Three Big Shot Brothers
GoldenFrame Channel
2 days ago
20:08
101-Year-Old American veteran shares his secret to a long, happy life
Insider
2 days ago
2:33
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2 Teaser Trailer (2025)
Fresh Movie Trailers
2 days ago
41:23
LFCHD_EP8_1_0
M1KE_TV Channel
2 days ago
1:01
"Il tempo non aspetta", esce lo spin-off di "Bassifondi"
Askanews
2 days ago
2:41
‘There’s No Serial Killer In That’: 'Longlegs’' Director Asked His Cast And Crew To Watch Some Pretty Unexpected Movies, But It Worked
Cinema Blend
30/06/2025
2:06
One 'Outer Range' Star Breaks Down An ‘Uncomfortable’ Direction Josh Brolin Gave Him, And Why It Worked
Cinema Blend
04/05/2025
1:15
‘He Devoted So Much Time To Us’: James Cameron Went Above And Beyond To Help 'Alien: Romulus' Be The Best Sequel It Could Be
Cinema Blend
22/06/2025
1:09
'A Quiet Place: Day One' Director Jokes About The ‘Terrible’ Sound Effects He Made For Lupita Nyong’o And The Cast
Cinema Blend
10/07/2025
0:56
Jerry Bruckheimer Reveals The Sequels Everyone Keeps Asking Him For, Especially Kid Audiences
Cinema Blend
27/06/2025
1:01
A Family Affair’s' Director Talks About Why Nicole Kidman And Zac Efron We’re The Perfect Pair For the Netflix Rom-Com
Cinema Blend
03/07/2025
4:31
Alien: Romulus' Review: One Of The Best Movies And The Entire 'Alien' Franchise
Cinema Blend
02/07/2025
0:46
'The Blackening’s' Dewayne Perkins Reveals The Two Wildest Jokes He’s Proud To Have Come Up With For The Movie
Cinema Blend
01/02/2025
0:46
The Blackening Cast Interview
Cinema Blend
27/01/2024
1:43
'Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' Director Explains His View On The Franchise Timeline Between The Caesar Trilogy And His Movie
Cinema Blend
4 days ago
4:34
Bruce Willis And 'Die Hard 2’s' Renny Harlin Had ‘Two Disagreements’ While Filming The Sequel, And I Agree With The Director On Both
Cinema Blend
04/04/2025
1:22
‘I Do Stand By The Decision’: 'Lilo & Stitch' Director Explains Why Gantu Isn’t In The New Movie
Cinema Blend
10/06/2025
2:28
'Shooting Stars' Director Reveals The Important ‘Gift’ LeBron James Gave Him During The Film’s Production
Cinema Blend
02/02/2025
1:19
Fede Álvarez Says Practical Effects Made His Nightmares Real in 'Alien: Romulus' | THR Video
The Hollywood Reporter
13/08/2024
2:39
Ridley Scott Shares Initial Reaction to 'Alien: Romulus' at the Film's Premiere | THR Video
The Hollywood Reporter
13/08/2024
1:45
James Webb Space Telescope Captures A 'Cosmic Tornado'
Space.com
yesterday
3:47
Will Brain Transplants Ever Be Possible?
Live Science
yesterday
3:12
What is Quantum Mechanics?
Live Science
yesterday
1:36
Earth's First Planetary Defense
Live Science
yesterday
1:31
Katie Thurston admitted the idea of undergoing a double mastectomy is a challenge
Bang Showbiz
today