logo
episode-header-image
May 2019
33m 23s

Alien - Nostromo, A Very Bloody Birth

Harry Duran
About this episode

Highlights

  • 00:16 – Robin tells the story of how she met Ron Shusett
  • 02:58 – Introducing today’s episode, Alien: Nostromo
  • 03:21 – Pre-production of Alien
  • 04:56 – Casting Alien
  • 05:46 – The controversy behind Sigourney Weaver landing the lead role of Ellen Ripley
  • 09:27 – Figuring out the pacing of Alien
  • 14:16 – An incredible crisis that developed among the actors of Alien
  • 18:51 – Giving Hollywood executives an ultimatum
  • 21:11 – The Chestburster Scene
  • 25:29 – Shooting in chronological order from the Chestburster scene on
  • 26:47 – Ron shares another behind the scenes moment from shooting Alien
  • 29:14 – The nursery set
  • 30:42 – The impregnation of the alien

Shareable Quotes

“Sigourney got it by giving a brilliant reading. She was off-Broadway in a hit and they gave her a cold reading and she knocked it out of the park.” (06:07)
“They were all not-name stars. They were all proven successes as character actors, but none of them could be prima donnas. But halfway through there became an incredible crisis with the whole cast. They almost all quit.” (14:28)
“And so I said, “The movie doesn’t seem to be working. It’s slow and plodding. It’s the right version of the script but the pacing is off. It’s funereal instead of suspenseful.” (10:17)
“And from then on, they were really scared of that monster. They’re performances showed it.” (25:08)

🎙️🎙️🎙️

Music by Vincent Covello and Vic Migenes

Artwork by Barbara Mastej

Listen to all episodes at AnAlienInHollwood.com

Discover Robin's books at RobinMaxwell.com

Listen to Harry as the host of Podcast Junkies

Podcast production and marketing by FullCast

Up next
Nov 2019
Total Recall - The Schwarzenegger Effect
00:15 – Robin recalls the story of how she met Ron Shusett03:57 – Preproduction in Mexico City during the summer of 198905:15 – Ron recounts a funny exchange with Arnold Schwarzenegger07:27 – Early days of set building09:52 – Special effects in Total Recall14:35 – Ron’s thoughts ... Show More
40m 46s
Nov 2019
Total Recall - Early Days
00:14 – Robin and Harry introduce the topic of today’s episode, Rom Shusett’s Total Recall03:28 – The decision to buy the rights to Philip K. Dick’s short story10:00 – First steps to making Total Recall11:34 – Dan O’Bannon’s involvement12:54 – Challenges with Disney17:29 – Meetin ... Show More
38m 29s
May 2019
Alien - Screening and Release
00:14 – Robin and Harry share their favorite moments and stories from the season thus far04:06 – Ron explains why he never used other films as inspiration for Alien04:45 – The creation of the adult Alien creature07:18 – How Ron’s editing advice led to one of the biggest scare sce ... Show More
27m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
530 The Most Insane Hollywood Development Deals
This week we get into all those wild Hollywood development deals that appear to go nowhere. From JJ Abrams' 250 million deal with WB to however much money Harry & Meghan managed to swindle out of Spotify. Plus we talk the news of the week including no more Mad Max probably, Blade ... Show More
1h 43m
Jan 2024
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s New Hollywood Framework
Over the past 15 years, filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) has become something of an institution in Hollywood. As a writer, director, and producer she’s worked to make our industry more just and diverse—creating opportunities for voices that have historically been under ... Show More
1h 8m
Apr 2024
Dev Patel Goes John Wick
On this week’s show, the panel is first joined by Slate business and culture writer Nitish Pahwa to discuss Monkey Man, Dev Patel’s dazzling but muddled directorial debut. The ultra-violent action flick stars Patel as Kid, a young man who works his way into a secret brothel for t ... Show More
1h 4m
Jan 2024
Oscar Nominations with Wesley Morris (The New York Times)
Wesley Morris has served as critic at large at The New York Times since 2015, covering film, politics, and pop culture. He joins this week to discuss this year’s Academy Award nominations.  At the top, we discuss the omission of Greta Gerwig from the Best Director category (6:07) ... Show More
1h 16m
Jun 2024
Hollywood Is Broken. Let’s Start a Movie Studio.
With no new movies hitting the box office this weekend, Sean and Amanda are instead building their own fantasy movie studio from scratch—directors, stars, writers, IP, studio locations, and more (1:00). Later in the show, Chris Ryan joins to help explain the uniqueness of ‘In a V ... Show More
2h 5m
Nov 2022
456 Remembering Kevin Conroy
This week we pay tribute to Kevin Conroy, a man many consider to be the definitive voice of Batman across multiple mediums. Plus the first look at Indiana Jones 5, Fast & Furious X's enormous budget, more SPUMM and more! Thanks for listening. Visit bigsandwich.co for a bonus week ... Show More
1h 50m
Jun 2024
‘The Bikeriders’ and the ‘Dudes Rock’ Movie Canon, Plus ‘Kinds of Kindness’
Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to discuss ‘The Bikeriders,’ a new Jeff Nichols movie starring Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, and Jodie Comer (1:00). They discuss the film’s successes, its influences, and more, before building a partial canon for movies in the “dudes rock” ge ... Show More
1h 53m
Jan 2023
462 Most Anticipated Movies & Shows 2023
...aaaaaaannnnnnnnd we're back for 2023! In this extra super big episode we go through the most anticipated movies and TV shows of 2023 in addition to a big news round up. This includs the current state of Dungeons & Dragons, more news on James Gunn's DCU, the Megalopolis disaste ... Show More
2h 19m
Feb 2024
513 Argylle (from the Twisted Mind of Matthew Vaughn)
We're back with another episode to talk about Matthew Vaughn's latest, Argylle. But on the way there we talk the passing of Carl Weathers, 28 Years Later moves ahead, casting for Supergirl, the terrible reacion to Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, trailers for Ghostbusters ... Show More
1h 28m