Watch Sigourney Weaver Surprise the Teen Cast of 'Alien: The Play' at N.J. High School

By Tariq Malik
published

Ellen Ripley herself was in the audience!

"Alien" star Sigourney Weaver (right) surprised the cast of "Alien: The Play" at North Bergen High School in New Jersey after an encore performance on April 26, 2019, the 40th anniversary of the science fiction film.
(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

According to "Alien" lore, in space no one can hear you scream. But you can definitely hear the New Jersey teens behind "Alien: The Play" scream during a surprise visit by actor Sigourney Weaver to their encore performance Friday (April 26). 

Weaver, who starred as Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's original "Alien" film, dropped in on the cast of "Alien: The Play" at North Bergen High School. She embraced one teen (who portrayed Ripley  in the play) as the rest of the cast screamed in exhilaration.

"I am so excited to be here," Weaver told the students according to one video. "I am representing all the Alien fans all over the universe who think what you're doing is so cool, and so important." 

The "Alien" film franchise celebrated its 40th anniversary on Friday. 

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"I love you!" a different teen screamed in another video. "You're my childhood hero! I can't believe you're here right now!"

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The student production of "Alien" at North Bergen High School garnered wide attention after images and video of the teens' initial performances in March went viral on social media. Working on a shoestring budget, the teens crafted eye-popping sets, spacesuits and a wild alien xenomorph costume from recycled materials.

So it wasn't surprising that the public demanded an encore, though the high school's drama teacher Perfecto Cuervo said at the time that there was likely no budget for another performance.

But apparently Ridley Scott himself donated $5,000 to help stage the encore on Friday, according to BuzzFeed. The performance was a fitting way to marked the 40th anniversary of "Alien." (Fan's call it "Alien Day.")

And the rest is "Alien" history, with the high school cast winning not only the hearts of science fiction fans everywhere, but also scholarships to New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and a truly EPIC "Alien"-themed cake from the "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

Check out the "Alien" awesomeness below!

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 Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook.  

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.