by James Mottram
[THIS INTERVIEW WAS COMPLETED PRIOR TO THE SAG-AFTRA STRIKE]
A cinematic legend, Sigourney Weaver has gone from playing Ripley in the Alien series and Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters to starring in two of the three biggest films of all time – James Cameron’s Avatar movies. But the 73-year-old star has never forgotten her love of human drama.
In Master Gardener, written and directed by Paul Schrader – the writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull – Weaver plays Norma Haverhill, a wealthy dowager who employs a head gardener, Narvel (Joel Edgerton), a reformed white supremacist. But things go awry when she asks him to look after her orphaned, mixed-race grandniece Maya (Quintessa Swindell).
We spoke to Weaver at the Venice Film Festival, where Master Gardener was first unveiled…
This is your first film with director Paul Schrader. Was Schrader taking on female characters a concern for you? It’s not something we remember him for…
“Well, you know, there’s Taxi Driver, and I’m sure there are other films that I might not know about. But I read the script before I met with him, and I was very impressed with it. It’s like no script I’ve ever read before. So specific and concise and detailed, and yet very mysterious.”
Your character Norma’s whole backstory is only hinted at. Did you fill it in yourself? Do you feel the need to do that?
“There’s very little, as far as I can remember… the direction all came from the text itself. It was a script that continued to work on you. And things would bubble up. And I think he [Schrader] wanted them to bubble up. It was like drinking a concoction of Schrader and seeing what creature you turned into. And I think Norma turns into Mrs. Hyde. But she also has given this man [Narvel] a new life, a new vocation, come to rely on him. I think they’re fond of each other. They have something that suits them both. And I think then she makes the mistake that King Lear makes, which is giving away her kingdom. You never do that. You’re never that secure. And everything goes off the rails. And then she becomes like a wounded animal to me. Not really in control of herself. She says terrible things, but she means them. It’s great to say some of these words. I haven’t really played anyone like that before.”
Narvel follows her lead, especially sexually. She’s very forward. It’s quite shocking!
“I think she’s quite frank, about what she wants. She’s not embarrassed by her sexual feelings. I think they have an arrangement. I think they see each other like this at least once a week. But I think that Norma sort of delights in his company. I think for a while, she probably tried to get him to make the first move. When that was clear that that was not going to happen, because he didn’t want to lose his job, she probably [made her move]. She’s not an idiot. Didn’t want to wait five years. So, it’s practical.”
Does the ending show that Hollywood loves to punish strong women?
“It’s such a tradition. That, to me, is a very old fashioned way Hollywood had. They love to dismiss strong women, as icy or evil or it’s sexist, ageist and it’s very much a part of the old Hollywood way of thinking about women. And that’s not how I see Norma at all, but of course, I can’t control what they say. But I think it’s very old fashioned to think that way. What I noticed when I started coming up in Hollywood was that they really wanted you to be a sympathetic character all the time. And an unsympathetic woman or a woman having a real reaction to things like a human being was considered too strong, unsympathetic. And to me, it’s kind of just like that. It’s just another offshoot of that. Norma is aristocratic. She’s in charge. She says terrible things. She’s evil. Paul can talk about her like that, because he sees it as an allegory. But she doesn’t like losing. Ultimately, it’s a love story about these other two [Narvel and Maya]. And I think it breaks her heart and may break her. And we don’t know. But it carries all the way through.”
You’re famed for playing Ripley in the Alien series. She was the archetypal strong woman. Was there ever any pushback over that?
“I had very enlightened producers who loved strong women and Ridley Scott too had no qualms about making this character as strong and as unsentimental as she was.”
The franchise also always had great directors attached – Ridley, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet…
“Yeah, and I always thought that was one reason why we were successful. Each outing, we were able to find a director who had so much to prove in a way, who wanted to take the elements of Alien and create something that no one had done before. So that was a great idea that [the studio] Fox had.”
Do you have any roles you regret turning down?
“No, not really. I always had a good reason. I would say sometimes, I probably should have met with a young director. Because sometimes the script… a script is just a blueprint. For instance, I was offered something from Jordan Peele and I didn’t meet with him because I can’t remember what I was doing. Nothing that important, but I wish I’d met with him because I think he’s so gifted and I hope to work with him. I was able to meet him recently at the whole Oscar season thing. So I think it’s not projects I turned down but sometimes it’s always good to meet [new filmmakers]… I love working with first time directors and new talent. Very exciting.”
Was that film you rejected Get Out?
“I’m not saying!”
You’ve had some great male co-stars, but who’s been your favourite? Alan Rickman, perhaps? You worked with him twice on Galaxy Quest and Snow Cake…
“Oh my god, dear Alan. I miss him all the time. He was such an incredible actor. So yes, I mean, we got to do two shows together and they were wonderful, distinctive shows. But I think actors are so wonderful. One of the nice things about Avatar is that there I was playing Sam Worthington’s mentor. And then, a few years later, I’m playing his daughter [Kiri, in Avatar: The Way of Water]. And when you work with the same actors again, and again, I think you just discover more and more about how gifted they are. Like Sam and Zoe [Saldana] and Stephen Lang. So, I love working with the same people again. And I felt that way about Kevin Kline and Bill Murray. I’ve been very lucky.”
Did you think Avatar: The Way of Water would be as big a hit as it became?
“You know, I’d always put my money on Jim [Cameron]. He’s got incredible storytelling instincts. He’s so good at creating. I was able to read all four of these stories that all hang together, and I had total confidence in the story, in Jim, and in the technology that they took so long to create because it’s so actor-centric, which made it a great pleasure to play Kiri, because I was able to be very free with my 14 year old instincts and the camera would pick up every micro feeling. There isn’t a lot of understanding about how actor-centric this technology is. I think there’s some apprehension about it from actors. But in fact, it’s really freeing for actors.”
You’ve just shot The Gorge. How was that and what’s it about?
“I hadn’t worked in England for a while, and it was so exciting to work there again. It’s where I started on Alien. And it’s always great to go back there. It’s kind of an adventure, love story, thriller. It’s kind of got everything.”
Did you get to work with Anya Taylor-Joy?
“Well, I didn’t actually get to work with Anya. I wish I had. I worked with Miles [Teller] and that was really fun. But I don’t have a huge part. But I have some juicy scenes. Something to stick your teeth into!”
Master Gardener screens at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 17 and 19
