S3 E2: Veronica Cartwright
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Veronica Cartwright is a British-born American Actress whose acting credits include: Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Birds, The Right Stuff, The Witches of Eastwick, The X-Files.
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I worked with Veronica on THE RIGHT STUFF ...and she is a truly delightful person. I was a casting coordinator for extras.
D.A.
“F*ckin’ A Bubba!”
She did such a great job at showing fear in Alien, one of the most convincing portrayals of scared person in the franchise.
I have heard that part of it was that she was not told how good the effect would be nor how good an actor John Hurt was. And yes, she is a great actress. The Witches of Eastwick cherry pit scene is still a o.O moment to me all these years later.
@@stevencote2012 It's not just the chestburster scene, though. She's the member of the crew who is most apprehensive right from the outset, and the one who first suggests abandoning the ship rather than trying to deal with the alien. Plus of course her death scene is a portrayal of pure frozen terror.
Veronica is simply a great emotional actress. It’s not just fear. She and her sister are amazing.
in the genre even imo, she also nailed it in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Aw, she seems like such a wonderful, nice lady. I could listen to her tell stories all day. I love her performances.
She always came across well even 30 years ago interview
Veronica's portrayal of pure terror is what sold the whole concept of the xenomorph for me. Without her, the atmosphere wouldn't have had the same heaviness, the same gravitas. Her reactions throughout Alien are how a real person would react. She holds a mirror up to the audience as we all collectively recoil in absolute horror. I have watched Alien countless times and the more you watch it, the more her performance stands out above the rest. Veronica, Sigourney and Yaphet deliver a hammer blow in the final act.
Criminally underrated podcast. Keep up the great work!
I have mad respect for Veronica. She didn't like the part of Lambert yet she showed up every day and knocked it out of the park. What a trooper.
2 Legends Of Cinema Right There! Awesome Love your work Michael and Veronica 🥰
Veronica is a legend of cinema for sure. So many great films including Aliens, The Birds and The Right Stuff.
You look great man!!! Just want to say, THANK you, I grew up on Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss, you made those films glow man!!
What a delightful episode! Verónica Cartwright is incredibly sweet, and the two of you had amazing chemistry in the interview.
I loved the stories! Hitchcock (talking about wine with a 12-year-old just to keep the conversation going), Jack Nicholson (“Run, run like the devil’s chasing you!”-great impression, by the way), Inserts (such a bold, committed performance-and that hilarious exchange: “I think this is the first time I’ve met an X-rated actress.” “Well, here I am! 😂😂😂😂”), Philip Kaufman and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Right Stuff (a movie I absolutely love: “Punch a hole in the sky.”). And of course, Alien, which cemented HER place in film history, and Aliens, which cemented HIS place in the film history.
And in between, jokes, laughs, memories, anecdotes, and a great conversation about good movies-which is exactly what we, the audience, want from this podcast: to sit back and listen to you chat, ask questions, and share amazing stories.
I’m having more fun with each episode, so I encourage all movie lovers to subscribe-because we’re almost at 11,000, and we want to grow even more and reach as many people as possible!
I'll always see her as the mom in Flight of the Navigator.
What a movie what a movie can't beat the 80s I don't think for creativity
The dissonance for me as kid between seeing her in that & Alien was severe. On par with the big guy from Earnest Saves Christmas also being a Klansman in Mississippi Burning lol
Easily the best thing I've seen in a while,true acting legends
Shout out to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
I know she's most famous for Alien, but this is my favorite performance of her!
What a great interview!
Love Veronica's recollections- what an amazing career.
And Michael is such an honest and Real interviewer with his own inside Actor histories!
Imagine being in the legendary films these two have been in. Two awesome human beings.
This is a dream podcast. Thank you
One of the best actresses of her generation and one of the greatest character actresses of all time AND seems like a wonderfully sweet person.
This was such a delightful conversaion :) Ms. Cartwright has always given her best in every one of her roles. She's also a hoot in this interview being open about to the goofy stuff that goes on during filming. Would you two ever doing a rom com together opposite one another? This podcast is another I'll listen to again.
Such a huge fan of this lady. Incredible job beenman 😂❤👽👌
Brilliant interview...
Knocking out these interviews fast. Wow. Clifton was awesome
Walter Hill was involved in the early pre-production of Alien. He was initially considered as director before Ridley Scott was hired. Walter Hill mostly oversaw the script development with screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, who conceived the idea for Alien while he was working with director John Carpenter on the science fiction film, Dark Star. Walter Hill was a real pain to Dan O'Bannon, because he was always asking for script changes, including changing the names of the characters, originally given names like "Standard" and "Broussard," as well as the inclusion of the android character "Ash," who was not in O'Bannon's original script. At the time that Alien was filming, Hill was busy working on his own film, the 1979 street gang action film, The Warriors.
To be frank, Hill's screenplay changes were pretty much all for the better. But he does somewhat aggrandize the extent of his rewrite, sometimes coming across as though he just took inspiration from the O'Bannon/Shusett script but came up with most of the final plot himself. Which is a heavy exaggeration.
Streets of fire 👌🏻👌🏻
Hey Mr Biehn, I am a huge fan of yours, Aliens, Terminator, Tombstone and The Abyss! Hearing you and the other actors discuss the reality of movie making is absolutely fascinating for me and I love hearing all the details. Look forward to every episode. Thanks. 😊
Veronica was amazing, this podcast is so damn good.
Stumbled across this site today. Great conversation on some of the movies that i grew up on. Glad to see both of these guys doing so well
Brilliant this made my day. Trying to imagine Hicks chatting with Lambert in some cosmic bar drinking margaritas 🍸
Brilliant interview! What a delight Veronica is and Michael Biehn is a perfect host and interviewer, chiming in with his own experience, but smart enough to give his guest the space to talk. I'm excited to discover this pod.
She's such a sweet lady isn't she 😊
What a great duo! Absolute legends. Veronica is still beautiful and so together with words. Thanks for showing this.
These two were in my favorite horror sci fi movies! Terminator 1 and Alien 1
What an outstanding interview, such a treat, thank you all and keep up the amazing work!
This is wonderful!! What a delightful lady!! ❤
"Oooh God !!"
One one The greatest Sci Fi
movies.
She was great, AMAZING as her character- EVERY single cast member in the original was PERFECTION.
I just want to say as a life long fan of you, Mr. Biehn, (and my first celebrity crush, lol) I am SO happy to see you and love your podcast. :) Thank you! And Ms. Veronica: You are such a fantastic actress! Love seeing you talk about your amazing career.
Oh shit, two of my favorite actors!
I could listen to Veronica talk all day. Great stories. I love this podcast. She is great in everything she ever done. From the Birds to the X-files. Michael is a great interviewer.
What a wonderful interview ❤
Great guests, Michael.
Michael I’m youre biggest fan seen a lot of youre movies but the ones that made you a star was The Terminator,Aliens,The Abyss,Navy Seals and Tombstone😃
Two legends, podcasts are truly a wonderful format; loved hearing their memories
yeah Giler took OBannon and Shusset's original draft and changed basically the whole thing. but funnily enough it contained the pyramids instead of the derelict and the capsules instead of eggs... which Ridely Scott ended up using in Prometheus.
Loved her part in Money Talks... was watch that movie today.
Back at it! Or maybe just finally uploading some old stugf. Either way, happy 2025
I didn't know you had a channel, Michael. I love Veronica, and you of course bro. So this is a nice surprise on many levels for me. I'm subscribed.
Alien and Aliens are my two favorite movies of all time
You dont know what a present this is for us!
I'd give anything to have been in this room❤ omg
Keep up the interviews,Michael ❤❤❤
A real treat for alien fans!
Thank you have a good day🙂
Absolute legend 🙌🏻
Brilliant. Definitely needs new sofas tho. They look like they were used in the first Alien film 😜🤣
Interesting interview. Don't worry about the time so much, just keep talking 😊
Veronica was amazing in The Witches of Eastwick.
finally the Alien and Aliens crossover we needed.
Brilliant actress!
Both you and Veronica look awesome
You could totally do Hicks again and well, I guess probably not Lambert lol
Should have went the 2 hours or more on this one.
1:33:33 I'd like to hear more about what happened when you met Damon Wayans. "In Living Color" is a good show that you don't hear people talk much about nowadays.
She’s still incredibly beautiful. What a great sense of humour.
Brilliant actress ❤
The alien ship is called the derelict...
Love this! Where's Lance!
I wanted you guys to talk a bit more about Aliens. Like, ask her about when she first saw the sequel, if she ever met Bill Paxton or Jenette Goldstein. If the movie scared her. Or if she got paid to have her image in the boardroom scene.
Bill Paxton RIP so sad seen who do you think you are just before his passing.was Exellent
WTF does that mean?
Something that might have been interesting to discuss was the tension between Sigourney Weaver and the cast of Alien because she took over the role of Ripley from Veronica Cartwright, an accomplished actor who had been working her ass off for years doing bit parts when she finally gets the lead in Alien, a major Hollywood movie. But then, a little unknown actor from New York replaces her and it's largely because of nepotism - Sigourney's father was a big shot in the business. I can imagine this upsetting the cast.
Cartwright was never cast as Ripley. That was essentially a mix-up on the part of her agent.
Mrs weaver a tough woman
It worked out best for the film. ALIEN is a masterpiece.
That Sigourney somehow stole the role from Veronica or anyone else, much less from nepotism, is silly.
It wasn't Veronica's by rights, everyone auditioned, Scott made his pick. Veronica wasn't owed anything.
Pat Weaver didn't have anything to do with it. Sigourney was a a trained Yale actor, young but as she proved, perfect for the role.
All this drama stirring decades later is dumb.
Too much tea gotta do the work first 😂
Omg Lambert and Hicks together 😍
This is so rad
Michael welcome ireland anytime don't worry tho i wouldn't bother you autographs not my thing just love the on and off screen work
Yeah, Michael is right about Giler and Hill rewriting the O'Bannon/Shusett screenplay, which was originally titled "Memory" and then "Starbeast". Giler and Hill asserted later that they had done a total rewrite of the script. O'Bannon and Shusett contend that it's still basically the same script. The truth is somewhere in between. Most of the major plot beats in the Giler/Hill shooting script were in the O'Bannon/Shusett "Starbeast" script, but pretty much all the dialog has been rewritten (and is, frankly, better), and Giler/Hill streamlined the plot in some areas and expanded it in others. In particular:
In "Starbeast:, the crew first enter the derelict and later make their way to a pyramid, which is where Broussard gets attacked by the facehugger. This was compressed into a single trip to the derelict. Arguably the pyramid idea would resurface later in "Alien vs Predator".
In "Alien", Giler and Hill introduce the character of Ash and use him as a surprise secondary antagonist, which keeps the plot ticking over in the second act. Cameron reused this structure in "Aliens", where Burke is the secondary antagonist in the second act, adding danger to the plot in between the major danger set-pieces of sub-level 3 and the attack on/escape from Operations to the dropship.
"Starbeast":
dailyscript.com/scripts/alien_early.html
"Alien":
www.dailyscript.com/scripts/alien_shooting.html
She is the funniest woman ever !!!
Dan and Ron wrote the script. Walter and Giler changed the character names and turned Ash into a robot and tried to get Dan and Ron's names removed. Giler is pond life. He ruined Alien 3. Both the Gibson version and the Ward version and they left Fincher with trash which he made a surprisingly good film out of and then cut it to ribbons. O Bannon got Giger onboard by giving Necronomicon to Ridley . They had both worked on Dune. He wanted a serious version of Dark Star and if you watch Dark Star its a dark comedy version of Alien and Giler had nothing to do with that.
Awesome interview Michael
Question: when are you going to bring in the mother of your child Linda Hamilton?
4:51
bcoz he was making warriors at the time
ash was Hill's idea.
Great podcast BUT you should have a SET of some sort that fits your theme. What's here , looks like you're waiting for the moving van to pull up.
I’d say Lambert had common sense but lacked courage, whereas Ripley and Parker were the ones with common sense and balls.
Parker was short-tempered. It’s what got him killed.
And Lambert …? Forget about it - Cartwright really did make her a LAMBert.
I’m not a fan of the 2003 re-edit for ALIEN - but it did give Lambert more to do: plot the coordinates to the planet AND slap Ripley.
The original 1979 theatrical cut is still the superior version.
Still, I’d love to see an extended cut for the 50th anniversary - with EVERYTHING back in.
@ Parker advised not going to the planet, he agreed with Ripley about not letting Kane, Dallas, and Lambert back on the ship, his first instinct was to kill the chestburster when it burst out of Kane (a right instinct, meanwhile everyone else froze up), and he was first to come to Ripley’s aid when Ash attacked her.
His only mistake was being Lanbert’s knight in shining armor.
@ Attempting to stab the Chestburster was the wrong thing to do. He saw for himself what its blood could do to three levels of the ship - he also noted that its blood was a "wonderful defence mechanism". Ash, was right to stop him (for the wrong reason of course).
He did the right thing in trying to save Lambert - even if it was suicide. You'll remember earlier, that she had saved his life by using the cattle prod on Ash - he owed her one.
The crew members bitched, fought and complained at each other, but in the end, cared for one another (except for Ash).
Elephant Isle Castle long set
Don't kill Michael character off on mandalorian soon as seen first scene knew they would.😢🇮🇪🎬
In the original "Starbeast" script the Ripley character is named Roby, and is male, although famously O'Bannon and Shusett added the note "The crew is unisex and all parts are interchangeable for men or women."
The crew of the SNARK in "Starbeast":
CHAZ STANDARD,
Captain.................A leader and a politician. Believes that
any action is better than no action.
MARTIN ROBY,
Executive Officer.......Cautious but intelligent -- a survivor.
DELL BROUSSARD,
Navigator...............Adventurer; brash glory-hound.
SANDY MELKONIS,
Communications..........Tech Intellectual; a romantic.
CLEAVE HUNTER,
Mining Engineer.........High-strung; came along to make his
fortune.
JAY FAUST,
Engine Tech.............A worker. Unimaginative.
Standard became Dallas, Broussard became Kane, Roby became Ripley. The mappings of the others are a bit more vague. There's no direct analog for Ash, who was really an invention of the Giler/Hill rewrite (along with the entire android/company subplot). I suppose Melkonis maps loosely to Lambert, and Hunter/Faust become Parker and Brett.
Is Donald Sutherland a pod person though, or is he throwing Veronica to the wind to protect his human form? Why was he looking at the Brooke Adams character just prior as if he was reminiscing when a pod person wouldn't have that memory or those feelings?
21:49 I want to see that footage so bad
Michael! I'm a huge fan and have been for a long time. Something you keep doing that makes you come across as cold blooded. Every time you speak about Aliens you're always mentioning how only 5 actors from Aliens got residuals because the rest were booked from England. You seem to take immense pleasure in this. Like Muhahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa I got paid more and you got a flat fee. Hahahaha haaaaa. . It's like Schadenfreude. It's not cool.
You did the same thing with Mark Rolston. As a working actor I know he was still hurt by that. You're great on this platform.....buy don't make fun of people's misfortune.
Alien and aliens was long time ago unfortunately can't remember Everything especially working actor.🇮🇪🎬
She's wrong about the writing credit. And It's "Dan," not "Jack." Makes me wonder about the rest of her stories. hahaha
I would have loved to see Veronica play Ripley. Her performance in Alien is just brilliant. And while I don’t like putting someone down to elevate others, I think Veronica is just a better actress than Sigourney. Sorry!
Both very talented actors - but Sigourney Weaver was/is irreplaceable. The film would have suffered with someone else playing the part.
@ I disagree. I’ve seen a lot of Sigourney’s film work and I just don’t hold her in as high esteem as others seem to. I think her best work is done Gorillas in the Mist and The Year of Living Dangerously. Additionally, I feel that she was a bad steward for the franchise moving forward after Aliens - Alien 3 are Resurrection are total misses in my view and her stalled attempt to reboot things with Blomkamp included a number of story and designs decision which I have never warmed to. Veronica is just so much more expressive and her performances dynamic. I think she ABSOLUTELY could have nailed the role of Ripley in Aliens with a transformation no less impressive than Linda Hamilton would experience moving from T1 to T2, for example.
@ FOX should have quit after ALIENS.
ALIEN was perfectly cast - each actor was right for their part. I wouldn't change a thing - except - the full-body shots of the Alien, bouncing off the life-boat's hull at the climax. That was ALIEN's only misstep, imo. The rest was perfection.
Wtf is with the guy constantly walking in front of the camera? So distracting. Professionalism please.
guys why you laughin at her life story lol
Hi Michael my brother has ahda as well so we do count sections 4
So please dont have coffee bach helps to .... dude you off track
This is a little rough. Both seemed to have gone through hell. I know Michael had a alcohol problem but Veronica looks like she's leaving the planet. Hollywood chews people up.
Eh, you do realize she is almost 76 and Biehn will be 69 this year? I think he looks healthier now than he has sometimes in the past.