Alien: Romulus star reveals late, great franchise legend was biggest inspiration
Spike Fearn looked up to one star in particular from Ridley Scott's iconic original.
Young British actors Spike Fearn and Archie Renaux are following in some major footsteps by starring in the new film Alien: Romulus – entering a franchise littered with performances from some of Hollywood's finest ever actors.
Sigourney Weaver, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton and Winona Ryder are just some of the huge stars to have had vital roles in previous films, and so in an exclusive interview ahead of the release of the new movie, RadioTimes.com asked Fearn and Renaux if they used any of those actors' performances as inspiration.
And Fearn revealed that he did look to one late star in particular – in part because of a personal connection.
“I don't know exactly for my character, but John Hurt for me," he explained.
"We're both from the Midlands in England, which was nice. So, yeah, he was a big inspiration for me. Also [he] had a great, great career.
"I think I read somewhere that his dad worked in Woodville, and I think my dad worked in Woodville for a long time. So definitely John Hurt for me!"
Of course, Alien fans will known that Hurt has an extremely important place in the franchise's history, as the first actor to fall prey to a facehugger before being subjected to the iconic chestbursting scene in the opening film.
As Fearn referenced, Hurt enjoyed a hugely influential career prior to his death at the age of 77 in 2017, with other highlights from his filmography including The Naked Civil Servant, Midnight Express, The Elephant Man and Nineteen Eighty-Four – while he famously played The War Doctor in Doctor Who.
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For his part, Renaux said that while there was no one in particular that he looked to emulate from the original, he hoped that he and his co-stars were able to capture the spirit of the ensembles from the early films in the series.
"[There] wasn't anyone specific, but I think it was kind of getting that tone from those original Alien films," he said. "That camaraderie and their kind of naturalism and how they interacted with each other, you know, when they wake up from the cryo-sleep, and they're all just eating food and talking.
"I think that was a big thing in kind of setting the tone. And then, just kind of, I guess, making it our own – you want to put your own stamp on things, to keep it different, but you want to capture the essence."
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Alien: Romulus is out now in cinemas.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
