The Daily Orange: Where does the name Sigourney come from? I know there’s an interesting story behind it.

Sigourney Weaver: I chose it out of ‘The Great Gatsby.’ I was always called Su or Suzy, and I was this tall when I was 11 (5 feet, 11.5 inches), so I thought I needed a longer name. So I chose it temporarily until I figured out what I should really do. I’m shocked that I actually changed my name; it was just a stalling tactic. (Laughs.)

D.O.: Tell me about the character Ellen Ripley from the ‘Alien’ series. She was a character that changed the status of females, showing that they can be heroes in movies.

S.W.: What I like about Ripley is that it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, there’s a person there who is interesting and not easily defined by gender. So I think that’s what liberated Ripley from being an ordinary person doing – sometimes against her will – unordinary things. I’m glad that it holds up pretty well, and I’m glad I got to wear normal clothes to be an action hero.

D.O.: What about the truth to the rumors of another sequel?

S.W.: Well, actually, it is something I’ve talked about with (director) Ridley Scott quite a bit. But in this business now, they’d be more likely to pick a 20-year-old and say that Ripley’s been cloned again. (Laughs.) It’s not something I sit around waiting for. I’m so busy, I haven’t had a chance to be nostalgic about ‘Aliens.’

D.O.: Let’s look at all the characters you’ve played, from sci-fi heroines to humorous seductresses to serial killer gurus. Many seem to be based toward men and male movies. Why do you think that is?

S.W.: Movies based towards men?

D.O.: Yeah, more movies that men would go see.

S.W.: Wow, I don’t know if there’s that much truth in that, because I never think about men. I mean … (Laughs.) But when I think about my audience, I always think of a woman who is rushed off to a movie theater … to take herself to a different place. My inspiration is a woman who doesn’t really fit in anywhere. But I’m glad that men like to go see some of my movies because they still, for Hollywood, are the driving factor.

D.O.: Tell me about the ‘Go Red for Woman’ campaign

S.W.: Well, ‘GRFW’ is the banner to which we remind woman that heart disease is a very serious problem. It’s the leading killer of women, more than six other causes combined, including cancer. Most of the research has been done on men, by men, for men, and I think that we’re trying to raise awareness. There must be more than a million who have no idea what this is. We usually think of guys having heart attacks, but in fact, women really need to take better care of themselves.

Published on April 25, 2006 at 12:00 pm