Sigourney Weaver has been active as an actress since the 1970s, rising to prominence quite rapidly at the end of that decade while being well-recognized and popular ever since. Weaver's filmography is defined by having quite a large number of action/sci-fi (or "genre") movies in it, but by no means is it restricted to mass-appeal, blockbuster entertainment, as a handful of the following movies will hopefully help to demonstrate.
She slips into seemingly any kind of movie, regardless of its scale or genre, and is particularly beloved for the badass/strong female characters she's played within genres that were (or maybe even are) male-dominated. Selecting just a few of her greatest roles will lead to omissions (including the likes of Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, which are worth bringing up as honorable mentions for the fact that they led to Oscar nominations), but the following aims to showcase the very best of the best.
10 'The Year of Living Dangerously' (1982)
Director: Peter Weir
While not super well-known by today’s standards, The Year of Living Dangerously is nonetheless a fairly good romantic drama with an early Sigourney Weaver performance that helped demonstrate her acting range. She plays a British woman living in Indonesia during the 1960s, at a time of civil unrest, with much of the film revolving around the relationship that develops between her and an Australian journalist played by Mel Gibson.
Gibson and Weaver were two big-name actors both on the rise throughout the 1980s, and they do manage to have strong chemistry here as the lead characters in The Year of Living Dangerously. Still, it’s arguably an Oscar-winning Linda Hunt who steals the movie, here completely disappearing into the role of a male photographer who also befriends Gibson’s character.
9 'Be Kind Rewind' (2008)
Director: Michel Gondry
Several years after directing the intense Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, filmmaker Michel Gondry waded into slightly less harrowing waters with the flawed but endearing Be Kind Rewind. It’s a quirky dramedy that feels unmistakably 2000s in hindsight, and has a very intriguing premise that follows two men who have to remake a whole host of films on a low budget after an accident destroys every tape in an old video rental store.
The leads of Be Kind Rewind are Jack Black and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), but the film also boasts an impressive supporting cast that includes Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Sigourney Weaver. Weaver’s featured here in a villainous role, playing a rather uncaring Hollywood executive who disapproves of the low-budget remakes because it purportedly infringes copyright. She’s surprisingly good in what’s ultimately a fairly small role, with the film as a whole being creative and decently fun.
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
PG-13Release Date January 20, 2008 Director Michel Gondry Cast Jack Black , Yasiin Bey , Danny Glover , Mia Farrow , Melonie Diaz , Irv Gooch Runtime 101 Main Genre Comedy8 'Avatar: The Way of Water' (2022)
Director: James Cameron
While Avatar: The Way of Water might not rank as one of the absolute best movies of the 2020s so far critically, it certainly stands out for being the most successful commercially. It was the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron’s original from 2009, sending audiences back to Pandora with a narrative about Jake Sully now raising a family with Neytiri 10+ years on from the events of the first movie.
Numerous characters who were shown to have died in the first movie return here, with this sometimes being explained clearly (as with how the first movie’s villain was brought back), but the way Weaver’s character of Grace was “reborn” as Kiri is probably going to be further explained in later movies. Still, it allows Sigourney Weaver to return to the series in some capacity, here essentially “playing” a character who’s more than 50 years younger than her in real life, thanks to performance capture.
Avatar: The Way of Water
PG-13Action Sci-FiAdventureFantasyRelease Date December 16, 2022 Director James Cameron Cast Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Stephen Lang , Kate Winslet , Vin Diesel Runtime 192 minutes7 'The Cabin in the Woods' (2011)
Director: Drew Goddard
Perhaps a little like Be Kind Rewind, Sigourney Weaver only shows up toward the end of The Cabin in the Woods, and in something of a villainous role, too (depending on how you look at it). Given The Cabin in the Woodstakes so many unexpected turns, and has a wild final act, it’s probably for the best not to go into too much more detail (some might even say that mentioning Weaver being in it would be something of a spoiler).
Still, her part in The Cabin in the Woods might be fairly minor overall, but it comes in the midst of some of the film’s most impactful and surprising scenes, and Weaver makes the most of what screen time she has. It’s a great movie overall, being tense, exciting, and bitingly satirical in many ways, with Sigourney Weaver being one small yet crucial piece of why the entire movie works so well.
The Cabin in the Woods
R HorrorComedyMysteryThrillerRelease Date April 13, 2012 Director Drew Goddard Cast Kristen Connolly , Chris Hemsworth , Anna Hutchison , Fran Kranz , Jesse Williams , Richard Jenkins Runtime 95 minutes6 'Galaxy Quest' (1999)
Director: Dean Parisot
Appropriately enough, Galaxy Quest is something of a cult science fiction movie that’s about a (fictional) cult classic sci-fi TV series. Sigourney Weaver is part of a cast that also includes Tim Allen, Sam Rockwell, and Alan Rickman, all themselves playing actors of said fictional sci-fi series who are mistaken for real heroes by an alien race, and then get made to participate in a genuine outer-space conflict.
It might all sound a bit silly, but Galaxy Quest takes this premise and makes it work, effectively feeling a little like Three Amigos in space, which was The Magnificent Seven but a comedy, which was Seven Samurai but set during Old West times. Everyone in Galaxy Quest gets time to shine, it’s a fun and heartwarming movie, and it manages to be an effective parody without ever feeling mean-spirited towards the things it gently makes fun of.
Galaxy Quest
PGAdventureComedyFamily Sci-FiRelease Date December 23, 1999 Director Dean Parisot Cast Tim Allen , Sigourney Weaver , Alan Rickman , Tony Shalhoub , Sam Rockwell , Daryl Mitchell Runtime 1025 'The Ice Storm' (1997)
Director: Ang Lee
The Ice Storm is a character-focused drama movie that doesn’t have a great deal in terms of plot, but remains compelling because it follows various well-realized characters who are all brought to life with some great performances. The ensemble cast here is a great one, as, beyond Sigourney Weaver, it also contains the likes of Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, and Elijah Wood.
It's set during the 1970s, and focuses on two families filled with people who are all struggling with various life challenges and more broad societal changes happening at the time. For her performance in The Ice Storm, Weaver was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a BAFTA, playing the mother in one of the film’s main families who’s having an affair with the father in the other.
The Ice Storm
RRelease Date September 27, 1997 Director Ang Lee Cast Kevin Kline , Joan Allen , Henry Czerny , Adam Hann-Byrd , Tobey Maguire , Christina Ricci , Jamey Sheridan , Elijah Wood , Sigourney Weaver Runtime 113m Main Genre Drama4 'Avatar' (2009)
Director: James Cameron
One of many high-grossing and critically successful movies directed by James Cameron, Avatarwas inescapable for a while back in late 2009 and early 2010, and was largely responsible for kicking off a newfound 3D movie trend. It tells an epic sci-fi story about humanity trying to colonize the alien moon of Pandora, and, while there, clashing with the native population known as the Na’vi.
Avatar hits familiar beats and isn’t shy about using tropes and certain well-worn narrative devices, yet it all comes together well and has the kind of awe-inspiring visuals that make storytelling shortcuts easier to forgive. Unlike in the sequel, Sigourney Weaver appears in the film predominantly as her live-action self – without performance capture – as Dr. Grace Augustine, though the character does spend some time as a Na'vi avatar, too.
Avatar
PG-13ActionAdventureFantasy Sci-FiRelease Date December 18, 2009 Director James Cameron Cast Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Stephen Lang , Joel David Moore , Giovanni Ribisi Runtime 162 minutes3 'Ghostbusters' (1984)
Director: Ivan Reitman
Few would argue against the claim that the original Ghostbusters is one of the best and most iconic films of the 1980s. It spawned a series that continues to have sequels/reboots to this day, though it’s hard to beat the original 1984 movie when it comes to quality and simplicity, with its story about a trio of men banding together to start a ghost-catching business.
Ghostbusters is mostly about the titular Ghostbusters, but that doesn’t mean the film’s supporting cast is lacking by any means, with Weaver appearing as Dana Barrett, a woman living in a particularly haunted New York City apartment building. Dana might not have as much agency as Weaver's character in a soon-to-be-mentioned film series from around the same time did, but she’s nevertheless good in the role as the most prominent female cast member, and the movie as a whole does indeed still hold up as a classic.
Ghostbusters (1984)
PGActionComedyFantasyRelease Date June 8, 1984 Director Ivan Reitman Cast Bill Murray , Dan Aykroyd , Sigourney Weaver , Harold Ramis , Ernie Hudson , Rick Moranis Runtime 105 minutes2 'Alien' (1979)
Director: Ridley Scott
Far from Ridley Scott's only science fiction movie, though arguably his best, Alien was a star-making role for Sigourney Weaver, and Ripley has gone on to become the character she’s best known for playing. Ripley is one member of a seven-person crew, all of whom are forced into a fight for their very lives after a dangerous alien creature gets on board their ship and attempts to kill them, growing bigger and bigger at an alarming rate.
Alien might be the kind of iconic sci-fi/horror film where most of its biggest moments are too well-known to have the same impact they once might’ve, but it’s also a testament to Alien’s quality that such moments got so famous in the first place. Weaver slowly emerges as the closest thing Alien has to a main character, and since Weaver nailed the role and the third act of the film essentially belongs to her character, it’s not surprising that she became a star following its release.
Alien (1979)
R Sci-FiHorrorRelease Date June 22, 1979 Director Ridley Scott Cast Sigourney Weaver , Tom Skerritt , John Hurt , Veronica Cartwright , Harry Dean Stanton , Ian Holm , Yaphet Kotto Runtime 117 minutes1 'Aliens' (1986)
Director: James Cameron
Before they collaborated on Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver joined forces for Aliens, the remarkable sequel to Ridley Scott’s original film that’s arguably even better than that one. Things are shaken up right away when Ripley is discovered in her lifepod 50 years on from the events of the first movie, and soon finds herself involved in another outer-space mission that has her coming into contact with violent alien lifeforms.
While Alien was mostly a sci-fi/horror movie, Aliens veers closer to thriller/action territory than horror, all the while still being scary when it needs to be and continuing to function as great science fiction. It’s more explosive and fast-paced than the movie that came before, and Weaver’s given even more to do in what’s unequivocally the film’s lead role, with a deserved Oscar nomination for her second performance here as Ripley.
Aliens
R Sci-FiActionAdventureRelease Date July 18, 1986 Director James Cameron Cast Sigourney Weaver , Michael Biehn , William Hope , Jenette Goldstein , Carrie Henn , Paul Reiser , Lance Henriksen , Bill Paxton Runtime 137 minutesncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwKqzzq6pp52pYsSmrdWeqWaln6u2pr%2BMq5ino5WZfA%3D%3D