COMPLETE GUIDE
ALIEN
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^083
JENETTE
GOLDSTEIN ON
PLAYING VASQUEZ
IN ALIENS
JANETTE GOLDSTEIN, WHO PLAYED
MACHO VASQUEZ IN ALIENS, TALKS
ABOUT GETTING INTO THE GUN-HO
PART DESPITE AN AVERSION TO GUNS...
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE YOU
CAST AS VASQUEZ?
I had been working out at the gym quite a
lot at the time and was in the best shape of
my life at that point. So, I had a muscular
physique and it just all coincided [with the
casting interview] which was very fortunate.WAS THERE ANY BACKSTORY TO HER?
The original script mentioned that both
Vasquez and Drake had been in juvenile
prison for murder and were serving life
sentences. That’s why they have such a
strong bond. They were the only ones who
were conscripted and they were not getting
out. That had a lot to do with her so-called
heroism as appose to [Hudson’s] character- he was getting out in two weeks so you
have more to lose. That had a lot to do with
our differences and how we played off of
each other.
VASQUEZ IS AT EASE WITH GUNS BUT
YOU’RE NOT FOND OF THEM ARE YOU?
I’m not a gun person at all but we had
stuntmen and guys from the SAS who
trained us how to use them so it looked real.
I’ve never been comfortable with guns but I
learned to love [them] when I was on fi lm.YOU’VE WORKED FOR JAMES CAMERON
A FEW TIMES. WHAT’S HE LIKE?
He knows exactly what he wants, he works
harder than anybody and he expects the
same from everyone. If you’re lazy or
incompetent God help you!ALL THE MARINES HAVE SUCH
GREAT CAMARADERIE. HOW WAS
THIS ACHIEVED?
Two weeks before fi lming we all trained
together, we worked out, hung out and got
to know each other. We went through this
whole process together and created this
unique bond.WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH
SIGOURNEY WEAVER?
Although she was in every scene she was
such a professional. She was like a queen;
so tall, stately with a beautiful voice and at
the centre of the action. Just wonderful.WHY DOES ALIENS CONTINUE
TO ENDURE?
The script, the ensemble and Sigourney
were all so good. It’s really incredibly
edited and directed: every moment is
just intense and you really care about the
characters. It’s pretty incredible how the
practical effects hold up too. Kids come up
to me and say: ‘You’re in my grandmother’s
favourite fi lm!’ [laughs]Ripley becomes the captain but she had to earn
that; nobody was just going to let her be the
captain. I was the voice of reason that thinks,
‘let’s get the fuck out of here!’”
However, getting out of there was not an
option, particularly when it came to the now
iconic chest-burster scene, where doomed crew
member Kane (John Hurt) gives horrifi c birth to
a xenomorph baby. “Those were real reactions
from everybody. John Hurt had a false chest
fi lled with [animal] kidneys and livers... and
then there was this puppeteer underneath doing
the monster stuff, so we all saw the creature
break through, turn around and look at us,”
remembers Cartwright. “I was told that I would
get a little blood on me, but the blood jet was
pointed directly in my face! I started getting so
fascinated watching that thing and then I was
just covered! That was the cut they used, as it
was the only take we ever did.”
When Alien was released in 1979,
audiences were utterly tormented bythe intense claustrophobic fear, helpless sense
of isolation and nerve-shuddering suspense that
Ridley Scott and his collaborators had expertly
created. Despite its visceral power it would take
seven years for a sequel to surface and catapult
the series to the next level.
Enter a young, ambitious visionary by the
name of James Cameron, then riding on the
success of The Terminator and highly enthused
by the possibilities of a follow-up to Alien.
Cameron had adapted an unrealised story
he’d previously penned called ‘Mother’ about
an alien on a space station, and incorporated
Ripley, along with a squadron of marines into
the mix. The concept gave birth to the military-
infused action-orientated thrill ride Aliens.
However, it was his close collaboration with a
returning Sigourney Weaver that ensured the
true essence of Ripley was retained.
“Interestingly, Sigourney herself
had an issue with my take on her
character,” Cameron admitted forThe creature’s design was based on H R
Giger’s 1976 painting, ‘Necronom IV’.There was a nasty shock in
store for Kane (John Hurt).COMPLETE GUIDE
ALIEN
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^083
JENETTE
GOLDSTEIN ON
PLAYING VASQUEZ
IN ALIENS
JANETTE GOLDSTEIN, WHO PLAYED
MACHO VASQUEZ IN ALIENS, TALKS
ABOUT GETTING INTO THE GUN-HO
PART DESPITE AN AVERSION TO GUNS...
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE YOU
CAST AS VASQUEZ?
I had been working out at the gym quite a
lot at the time and was in the best shape of
my life at that point. So, I had a muscular
physique and it just all coincided [with the
casting interview] which was very fortunate.WAS THERE ANY BACKSTORY TO HER?
The original script mentioned that both
Vasquez and Drake had been in juvenile
prison for murder and were serving life
sentences. That’s why they have such a
strong bond. They were the only ones who
were conscripted and they were not getting
out. That had a lot to do with her so-called
heroism as appose to [Hudson’s] character- he was getting out in two weeks so you
have more to lose. That had a lot to do with
our differences and how we played off of
each other.
VASQUEZ IS AT EASE WITH GUNS BUT
YOU’RE NOT FOND OF THEM ARE YOU?
I’m not a gun person at all but we had
stuntmen and guys from the SAS who
trained us how to use them so it looked real.
I’ve never been comfortable with guns but I
learned to love [them] when I was on fi lm.YOU’VE WORKED FOR JAMES CAMERON
A FEW TIMES. WHAT’S HE LIKE?
He knows exactly what he wants, he works
harder than anybody and he expects the
same from everyone. If you’re lazy or
incompetent God help you!ALL THE MARINES HAVE SUCH
GREAT CAMARADERIE. HOW WAS
THIS ACHIEVED?
Two weeks before fi lming we all trained
together, we worked out, hung out and got
to know each other. We went through this
whole process together and created this
unique bond.WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH
SIGOURNEY WEAVER?
Although she was in every scene she was
such a professional. She was like a queen;
so tall, stately with a beautiful voice and at
the centre of the action. Just wonderful.WHY DOES ALIENS CONTINUE
TO ENDURE?
The script, the ensemble and Sigourney
were all so good. It’s really incredibly
edited and directed: every moment is
just intense and you really care about the
characters. It’s pretty incredible how the
practical effects hold up too. Kids come up
to me and say: ‘You’re in my grandmother’s
favourite fi lm!’ [laughs]Ripley becomes the captain but she had to earn
that; nobody was just going to let her be the
captain. I was the voice of reason that thinks,
‘let’s get the fuck out of here!’”
However, getting out of there was not an
option, particularly when it came to the now
iconic chest-burster scene, where doomed crew
member Kane (John Hurt) gives horrifi c birth to
a xenomorph baby. “Those were real reactions
from everybody. John Hurt had a false chest
fi lled with [animal] kidneys and livers... and
then there was this puppeteer underneath doing
the monster stuff, so we all saw the creature
break through, turn around and look at us,”
remembers Cartwright. “I was told that I would
get a little blood on me, but the blood jet was
pointed directly in my face! I started getting so
fascinated watching that thing and then I was
just covered! That was the cut they used, as it
was the only take we ever did.”
When Alien was released in 1979,
audiences were utterly tormented by
the intense claustrophobic fear, helpless sense
of isolation and nerve-shuddering suspense that
Ridley Scott and his collaborators had expertly
created. Despite its visceral power it would take
seven years for a sequel to surface and catapult
the series to the next level.
Enter a young, ambitious visionary by the
name of James Cameron, then riding on the
success of The Terminator and highly enthused
by the possibilities of a follow-up to Alien.
Cameron had adapted an unrealised story
he’d previously penned called ‘Mother’ about
an alien on a space station, and incorporated
Ripley, along with a squadron of marines into
the mix. The concept gave birth to the military-
infused action-orientated thrill ride Aliens.
However, it was his close collaboration with a
returning Sigourney Weaver that ensured the
true essence of Ripley was retained.
“Interestingly, Sigourney herself
had an issue with my take on her
character,” Cameron admitted forThe creature’s design was based on H R
Giger’s 1976 painting, ‘Necronom IV’.
There was a nasty shock in
store for Kane (John Hurt).