Sigourney Weaver signs on to our Zoom with a giant map of the world behind her. It’s the kind of background one might expect to see accompany a nightly newscast or a weather reporter. And yet, it makes total sense given her upbringing.
“We have the map to remind ourselves how insignificant we are,” she explains, adding that her father, late broadcasting executive Sylvester “Pat” Weaver who was president of NBC in the ’50s, always had maps on the wall of his library too. “There’s so much going on in the world,” she says. “It really helps to remind myself of where things are.”
In this case, the “where” is New York City, where Weaver is getting ready to start a busy fall promoting four films: Master Gardener, The Good House, Call Jane, and Avatar 2. “It’s funny that they’re all coming out at the same time because they’re all so different,” she says. “It’s like a flower bed coming up after winter.”
Not to be cliché, but Weaver’s career has pretty much always been in bloom. Born in New York City, she graduated from Stanford University and went on to receive a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama—where, at one point, she was told she shouldn’t consider a career as an actor.
The “advice” didn’t stick: She made her feature film debut in Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi blockbuster Alien as Warrant Officer Ripley, followed by 1986’s Aliens. For that follow up, she earned a best actress Oscar nomination and, most importantly, paved the way for future bonafide, tough-as-nails female action stars.
Her greatest hits continued with the role of Dana Barrett in 1984’s Ghostbusters and a Tony nomination that same year for Hurlyburly. A few years later, in 1988, she earned another two Oscar nominations; this time for playing primatologist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist and sly boss Katharine Parker in Working Girl.
The ‘90s were no different, starting with reprising her role as Ripley in Aliens 3, which she co-produced. (She also starred and co-produced 1997’s Alien Resurrection.) Then there was 1993’s critically-acclaimed political comedy Dave and the 1997 drama The Ice Storm, both opposite Kevin Kline. (She stars with him again in this fall’s The Good House.) The critically-acclaimed projects kept on coming—by 2009, she had another blockbuster under belt in James Cameron’s groundbreaking film Avatar, which was nominated for best picture at the Oscars.
And while Weaver is most known for her extensive film work, she’s also made her mark in television, earning Emmy and SAG noms for Lifetime’s Prayers for Bobby and USA Network’s Political Animals. We’d be here all day if we listed all of her credits, which total over 100.
But as successful and groundbreaking as Weaver’s career has been, she’s remained under the radar as far as her personal life is concerned—especially in today’s know-everything social media climate. The TL;DR version is that she’s been married for nearly 40 years to director and actor Jim Simpson, and they have one adult daughter, Charlotte. But who is the real Sigourney Weaver? Does she consider herself as fearless in her daily life as she is in her films? What are her pet peeves? And does she feel as confident as she looks on the red carpet?
