People

By Barbara Kiviat; Sigourney Weaver Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004
    • Q&A; Sigourney Weaver
    Sigourney Weaver stars in Imaginary Heroes, a movie about a family falling apart that still manages to be funny. It previews next week and opens across the country next month.

    Director Dan Harris is 25. Was it odd taking orders from a kid?

    Luckily, I'm very immature, so I don't feel he's that much younger. He must be an old soul. Age is one of those things that doesn't make any difference if you know what you're doing.

    Your character in this movie smokes a fair amount of pot. Any worries about how your real-life teenage daughter might take that?

    Well, she hasn't seen the movie. I think that she'd understand it was escapist.

    She hasn't seen all your movies?

    Her life is much more interesting than watching her mother in a movie. She's certainly never seen any of the Alien movies. What's nice is that they're there. It's a record of, "Oh, you were a baby when I carried that flamethrower."

    What do you think of female action-adventure stars today?

    I was lucky to have the directors I had. When I first appeared as Ripley, I came down in this little pastel costume, and Ridley Scott said, "You look like Jackie Onassis in space." And we [found] the flight suit I ended up wearing. When I see the costumes they put their women heroes in [today], they're so impractical. They've probably been told by the studio, "She has to kick ass, but we gotta really see those legs."

    Your drama teachers at Yale told you that you had no talent. Anything you want to say to them now?

    Oh, my goodness me. Years of therapy, and here I have my opening.

    Take the low road.

    I hope they're all sitting watching my movies late at night, eating cat food out of a can.

    Making Trouble for the Doubles
    Sometimes it can be a total, like, downer to be a superfamous millionaire college kid with your own clothing line. New York University frosh MARY-KATE and ASHLEY OLSEN were probably looking forward to their inaugural protest march — but not to having it directed at them. The National Labor Committee took the twins to task over maternity leave-- or, rather, the lack of it — for the women in Bangladesh who sew their Wal-Mart clothing line. The school newspaper suggested the student government censure the celebs, and a march was organized. When presented with a pledge guaranteeing pregnant women time off, the stars quickly signed. The Olsens' names were removed from protest banners, but the march continued against Wal-Mart. As if understanding multivariable calculus weren't enough to worry about already.

    Never Trust a Strange Film with Candy
    A flying oompa loompa? The Great Glass Elevator in free fall? We don't know what the cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is staring up at either. Honestly! We'll all find out together next year, when the Tim Burton remake of the Roald Dahl classic hits theaters. JOHNNY DEPP, in the top hat, plays the off-kilter Willy Wonka, with FREDDIE HIGHMORE, far left, as Charlie Bucket. Let the hunt for a golden ticket begin!

    For the Awake
    The new face in late-night TV speaks with a Scottish brogue. CRAIG FERGUSON, best known to American audiences as The Drew Carey Show's insufferable boss Mr. Wick, takes the reins of CBS's Late Late Show in January, which another Craig — Kilborn in this case — dropped over the summer. (Easier to remember the name of the guy behind the desk, that way.) Ferguson won a bake-off with three other funny guys, much to his surprise. "I thought, There's no way they're going to let a Scottish guy do this show," he says. (Has he never seen Shrek?) We eagerly await seeing all those guests in kilts.