Learn more about Sigourney Weaver's career ahead of 'The Tempest'

The Alien and Avatar star makes her UK stage debut as Prospero in The Tempest this month.

Julia Rank15 November, 2024, 13:00

Born Susan Weaver (her stage name comes from a character who’s briefly mentioned in The Great Gatsby), in New York City in 1949, Sigourney Weaver began her theatrical career in the early 1970s. She has appeared on Broadway and, always a risk-taker, has enjoyed a prolific Off-Broadway career – no venue is too small for this Oscar nominee.

Weaver made her screen debut in a small role in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) before she shot to stardom in her signature role of Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s film Alien (1979). This stereotype-defying character is considered one of the most significant in the science fiction genre. She reprised the role in the 1986 sequel Aliens and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance, a rare achievement for an actor in a sci-fi or action film. She played Ripley a third time in Alien 3.

Weaver played cellist Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989). In 1988, she won Golden Globes and was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscars for her performance as naturalist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist and antagonist Katharine Parker in Working Girl, respectively.

Films in the 1990s included Copycat, Death and the Maiden, and The Ice Storm. She renewed her sci-fi credentials as Gwen DeMarco in Galaxy Quest (1999), Dr Grace Augustine in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and its 2022 sequel, and she provided the voice of Axiom Computer in Wall-E (2008). Television guest appearances have included The Defenders, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and Call My Agent (in which Weaver, playing herself, demonstrated her skills as a fluent French speaker).

Alongside her film work, Weaver has been a regular theatre performer throughout her career. She will soon be playing Prospero in The Tempest at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, as part of Jamie Lloyd’s Shakespeare season at this historic venue – a landmark role for a remarkable talent at the height of her powers. Read on to learn more about Weaver’s stage career.

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Yale Repertory Theatre

Weaver has admitted to experiencing self-doubt as a student at Yale. However, she appeared in several plays by her friend, the absurdist playwright Christopher Durang and was an active member of Yale Cabaret. She was also in the ensemble of the premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s musical The Frogs, alongside Meryl Streep.

Early career (1971-9)

Prior to her Hollywood breakout, Weaver made her Broadway debut as Marie-Louise Durham in the 1975 revival of Somerset Maugham’s comedy The Constant Wife, alongside the great Ingrid Bergman. She also appeared at Williamstown Theatre Festival and several Off-Broadway venues, including Van Dam Theatre, American Place Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public Theater.

1980s

In 1984, Weaver had one of her biggest theatrical successes to date when she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Featured Role (though the award went to co-star Judith Ivey) for her performance as Darlene in David Rabe’s dark comedy Hurlyburly. The play, which took its title from the witches in Macbeth, explored the meaningless and drug-fuelled lives of minor Hollywood players. The cast also included William Hurt and Cynthia Nixon.

During the decade, Weaver's other stage roles included Anna in Harold Pinter’s Old Times and Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice for Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company.

1990s and the Flea Theater

Weaver was absent from the stage as a performer during the 1990s, apart from a Broadway appearance in her friend Christopher Durang’s Sex and Longing in 1996 (the play, unfortunately, was not well received).

The Flea Theater, a 120-seat TriBeca-based venue was founded by Weaver, Jim Simpson (Weaver’s husband), Mac Wellman, and Kyle Chepulis in 1997 as an incubator for experimental theatre. The venue was awarded a Drama Desk Award for Distinguished Achievement in 2004. Simpson served as artistic director until 2015.

Weaver’s performances at the Flea have included The Guys by Anne Nelson, about the aftermath of the 9/11 (the play premiered shortly after the tragedy in December 2001), in which she played opposite Bill Murray. She also starred in the political thriller Mrs. Farnsworth by A R Gurney opposite John Lithgow.

2000s to the present day

Weaver appeared in another 9/11-influenced play, Neil LaBute’s acclaimed The Mercy Seat (2002) alongside Liev Schreiber at the Off-Broadway Acorn Theatre. She also starred in A R Gurney’s Crazy Mary at Playwrights Horizon.

Weaver returned to Broadway in 2012’s Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. This comic homage to Chekhov received mixed reviews but Weaver’s performance as flamboyant Hollywood star Masha, sister of David Hyde Pierce's Vanya and Kristine Nielsen's Sonia, was widely praised. When the play came to the UK, Janie Dee played Weaver’s role.

The Tempest

The role of Prospero’s in Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Theatre Royal Drury Lane marks Weaver’s UK stage debut. The magician Prospero is usually a male role, and challenging assumptions is one of the things that Weaver does best. Other women who have played Prospero include Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren, and Harriet Walter. We’ll see if Weaver’s sci-fi movie fame is referenced in theatre wunderkind Jamie Lloyd’s staging of this magic-filled play.

Weaver’s co-stars include Forbes Masson (Caliban), Mason Alexander Park (Ariel), Mathew Horne (Trinculo), and Selina Caddell (Gonzalo) — Weaver and Caddell have been friends for decades, which led to Weaver’s guest appearance in Doc Martin! It ought to be “such stuff as dreams are made on”.