Sigourney Weaver Didn't Intend To Make An Aliens Reference In Avatar: Fire And Ash

In James Cameron's "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the filmmakers used complex and miraculous motion-capture technology to transform the 76-year-old Sigourney Weaver into a photorealistic teenage alien named Kiri. It's a credit to both the film's VFX technicians and to Weaver's performance that Kiri is a 100% convincing creation, and Weaver's many fans will be able to recognize her immediately underneath the Na'vi animation. Weaver and Cameron clearly work well together, as "Fire and Ash" is their fourth collaboration after 1986's "Aliens," and the previous two "Avatar" movies in 2009 and 2022.

Indeed, there is a moment near the end of "Fire and Ash" wherein the filmmakers decided to — intentionally or not — throw in a cute "Aliens" reference. During the fiery, prolonged action climax, Kiri has to rescue her adopted mother Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) from the clutches of the wicked Na'vi tribe leader Varang (Oona Chaplin). Kiri was born from a part-human Na'vi clone body, and she doesn't seem to have a father, but Neytiri has taken her in as her own daughter, leaving the characters quite close. As Varang threatens to slash Neytiri with a blade, Kiri, gathering her resolve, screams, "Leave my mother alone, b*tch!" This line will most certainly remind "Aliens" fans of Weaver's line "Get away from her, you b*tch," spoken to that film's own evil alien queen. /Film wrote about that moment, although we felt it was a little contrived. 

As it so happens, however, Weaver wasn't even thinking of "Aliens" when filming that scene. She was too deep in character as Kiri to think about other lines she may have spoken in her career. She talked about playing Kiri in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, and addressed that moment. 

When the Hollywood Reporter mentioned that Kiri's "victory moment" at the end of "Fire and Ash" was reminiscent of her line in "Aliens," Weaver admitted that it has already come up in multiple conversations. It seems obvious to anyone who has seen "Aliens" that the filmmakers were paying homage to the 1986 film, but to Weaver, the "Avatar" moment was 100% an "Avatar" moment. She felt that perhaps James Cameron was making a little wink to his own earlier movie, but as an actress, she wasn't even considering that Kiri and Ellen Ripley, her "Aliens" character, were even remotely alike. She said: 

"People are very excited to bring that up, and I was shocked because that's the last thing in the world that was on my mind. I intellectually in my shoulder recognized that it was kind of an echo that Jim was trying for that kind of moment. But I was so totally in the Kiri space, that when people say, 'Were you thinking of that moment in "Aliens?"' I'm like, 'Well, that's not how we work. That's not how acting works.' That would've completely confused me. I'm so glad I didn't. I sensed it, but I didn't really ever think about it." 

It seems that Weaver is wholly committed to her characters, and that she was deep inside the brain of Kiri in that moment. Kiri wouldn't have seen "Aliens," as she is an alien on a distant world in the distant future. It's possible that "Aliens" is a film in the world of "Avatar," but that's never really brought up. Kiri was merely following her anger, screaming cuss words as an act of wrath. Kiri wasn't quoting "Aliens." Weaver wasn't thinking of Ripley.