SIGOURNEY WEAVER (The Warden) made her motion picture debut in 1979 in Ridley Scott’s hugely successful “Alien.” She reprised the role of Warrant Officer Ripley in James Cameron’s “Aliens” in 1986, for which she earned a Best Actress Academy Award® nomination, and in David Fincher’s “Aliens 3” in 1992, for which she also served as co-producer. In 1997, Weaver brought Ripley back to life in “Alien Resurrection” for director Jean- Pierre Jeunet. She has created a host of memorable characters, both dramatic and comic, in other films as well, from “Ghostbusters” to “The Year of Living Dangerously” to “Gorillas in the Mist” to “Working Girl” to “Dave.”
2002 provided a busy and diverse year for Sigourney Weaver. In July, she starred alongside Bebe Neuwirth and newcomer Aaron Stanford in the Miramax release of the Sundance Film Festival favorite, Gary Winick’s comedy feature “Tadpole.” She completed reprising – on film – the role she originated on stage earlier that year at the Flea Theatre in Downtown Manhattan with “The Guys.” Playwright Anne Nelson’s moving response to the World Trade Towers collapse and events of September 11, “The Guys” is directed for film by Weaver’s husband, Jim Simpson, who also directed the stage production. The stage production co-starred Bill Murray and the film version costars Anthony LaPaglia.
In 1982,Weaver made an indelible impression on audiences and critics alike, starring opposite Mel Gibson and Linda Hunt, in Peter Weir’s brilliant romantic drama set in Indonesia at the outset of the 1965 revolution, “The Year of Living Dangerously.”
In a single year, 1988,Weaver had starring roles in three hit movies back to back: “Gorillas in the Mist,” in which she portrayed primatologist Dian Fossey; the Mike Nichols comedy “Working Girl”; and “Ghostbusters II.” Weaver received her second and third Academy Award® nominations for “Gorillas in the Mist” and “Working Girl,” and received Golden Globe Awards for her performances in each of these films.
In 1992, Weaver reprised Ellen Ripley in David Fincher’s “Alien 3,” and in 1993 she starred opposite Kevin Kline in Ivan Reitman’s incandescent political comedy “Dave.” In 1994, she starred in Roman Polanski’s gripping film adaptation of Ariel Dorfman’s political drama, “Death and the Maiden,” opposite Ben Kingsley. In 1995,Weaver starred opposite Holly Hunter, under the direction of John Amiel, in the psychological thriller “Copycat.”
In the fall of 1997, Weaver starred in Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed “The Ice Storm” alongside Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci. Her performance garnered her a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors’ Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
In the winter of 1999, Weaver starred in two strikingly different films. Her galvanizing performance in “A Map of The World,” Scott Elliott’s powerful drama based on the novel by Jane Hamilton, earned universal critical praise and a “Best Actress” Golden Globe nomination. Her comic turn, along with crewmates Tim Allen and Alan Rickman, in the science fiction comedy “Galaxy Quest” for director Dean Parisot, proved to be one of the delights of the holiday season, and a continuing cult hit.
Weaver starred last spring as half of a mother-daughter con artist duo, together with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Hackman and Ray Liotta, in director David Mirkin’s hit romantic comedy caper “Heartbreakers.”
Other film credits include starring roles in “Deal of the Century” with Chevy Chase and Gregory Hines, “Half Moon Street” with Michael Caine, “One Woman or Two” with Gerard Depardieu, “Eyewitness” with William Hurt, Ridley Scott’s “1492” again with Depardieu, a memorable cameo appearance in the film adaptation of Paul Rudnick’s stage comedy, “Jeffrey,” and a fleeting moment as Woody Allen’s date outside the movie theatre in “Annie Hall.” Born and educated in New York City, Weaver graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English from Stanford University and went on to receive a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama. Her first professional job was as an understudy in Sir John Gielgud’s production of “The Constant Wife,” starring Ingrid Bergman, which toured before being presented on Broadway.
Weaver made her first stage appearance in an Off- Off Broadway production of Christopher Durang’s “The Nature and Purpose of the Universe,” following it with another Off-Broadway double bill, “Titanic” and “Das Lusitania Songspiel,” the latter of which she co-authored with Durang. “Das Lusitania” won Drama Desk nominations for both Weaver and Durang.
Weaver subsequently appeared in a number of Off- Broadway productions in New York, working with such writers as John Guare, Albert Innaurato, Richard Nelson, Len Jenkin and Christopher Durang. In regional repertory, she performed in plays written by Pinter, Williams, Feydeau and Shakespeare. She also appeared in the PBS series “The Best of Families.”
Weaver received a Tony Award nomination for her starring role in “Hurlyburly” on Broadway. After completing filming on “Aliens”, she collaborated for the first time with her husband, theater director Jim Simpson, playing Portia in the Classic Stage Company of New York’s production of “The Merchant of Venice.” In 1996,Weaver appeared on Broadway again in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of “Sex and Longing,” written by Christopher Durang.
Weaver starred as the sorceress stepmother in Showtime’s live-action film, “Snow White: A Tale of Terror,” based on the original Grimm’s fairytale. She received both Screen Actors Guild and Emmy nominations for her performance.
Weaver’s production company, Goat Cay Productions, based in New York, is working to introduce new voices from the theater into the film industry. She and her family live in New York.
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