WATCH: Sigourney Weaver’s advice for newbies

MANILA, Philippines – “Persevere,” said multiple award-winning actress and “Sci-fi Queen” Sigourney Weaver. This is her advice for young people who are just starting out in the often cutthroat entertainment industry. 

“Yes, it’s a difficult industry, but it’s so worth it, it’s a wonderful community to be a part of, it’s always going to be hard work, it’s always going to be challenging – and persevere,” she told Rappler during an interview for the new movie Chappie, out March 5. (WATCH: Which scary movie terrified ‘Chappie’ star Dev Patel?) 

In Chappie, Sigourney plays Michelle Bradley, the calculating CEO of a weapons company who is presented with a new concept: what a young engineer Deon (Dev Patel) calls the next step in evolution, a robot that can think and feel. The titular robot Chappie was once a police droid before he was stolen, one of the vast army that’s now part of the film’s futuristic society. (WATCH: In ‘Chappie,’ Hugh Jackman is an intense villain with a mullet)

Absolutely no stranger to science fiction films, Sigourney is well known for her role as the iconic Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies, and over her long and storied career, she’s appeared in beloved movies likeGhostbusters, Avatar, and Working Girl, and made her mark in the worlds of theater and television. 

Are there more great parts for women these days? Perhaps, but there’s no discounting true talent plus the opportunities to be seized in an industry that’s becoming more and more global, said Sigourney.

“I think it’s hard for men and women to find interesting parts, but now that the industry is so incredibly global and so international… I feel that the cross-pollinaton of all these different countries and different talents is going to make for a very golden period of film,” she told Rappler. 

Working with Neill – also, Alien!

In this feature film, Sigourney worked under the direction of Neill Blomkamp, who also directed 2009’s District 9 (nominated for a Best Picture Oscar), as well as 2013’s Elysium.

It’s notable that Neill will also be working on the upcoming Alien reboot, and signs point to us being able to see Ripley back in action.

In any case, Neill told Rappler in a separate interview that his working with Sigourney on Chappie got the two talking, and this definitely influenced his ideas about the character. 

Watch: 

For Neill, working with Sigourney on Chappie felt very natural. “I’m still surprised when I can get people who have crafted my own creative interests – my childhood, to some degree – to work on the films that I want to make,” he said in a press release.

“So, having her on set was quite bizarre but also very natural.  She’s very easy to communicate with and she’s very talented.  It was effortless, but then every once in a while I’d realize it was actually Ripley on set, and that was mind-blowing.”

It will be a while before we’ll see Alien 5 – right now, there are very few details out – but fans will get to see the product of Sigourney and Neill’s initial partnership in Chappie, to hit theaters in the Philippines March 5. – Rappler.com