IT’S HARD TO imagine any actor more equipped to handle a global pandemic than Sigourney Weaver. Over a career spanning five decades, she’s battled parasitic aliens (Alien), survived demonic possession (Ghostbusters), come face-to-face with serial killers (Copycat) and even fought off poachers (Gorillas in the Mist).
I’m hardly surprised then, when she shares that her past few months have been spent not cautiously relaxing at home like the rest of us, but thrashing around in water tanks, while filming action scenes for the hotly anticipated Avatar sequel.
“I like workman jobs, you know,” Weaver, who turned 71 in October, explains. “I like knowing how to do things. The only time [I’m a] ‘movie star’ is on the red carpet, or at the Oscars. The rest of the time I’m running around in sweaty clothes like everybody else, working very hard in all kinds of conditions doing my best—and I love it.”
When she’s not been in the tank, much of Weaver’s quarantine has been spent surrounded by nature. “I’m going to go to the New York Botanical Garden, which I’m a trustee of, on Friday to see the cherry blossoms. I feel like one of the things that happened during quarantine was that we all went outside and could watch each season unfold. The only safe place we could be was outdoors in nature, and that has created a wonderful connection. It’s going to change things, I think— I hope—in the way that we see our natural world.”
This story is from the June 2021 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2021 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Culinary Grandes Dames
Paola Westbeek celebrates the women who have influenced her journey in gastronomy-from Elizabeth David and Julia Child to Nigella Lawson
My Britain: Winterton-on-Sea
WITH A BEAUTIFUL BEACH on one side and the Norfolk Broads on the other, Winterton-on-Sea is a lovely little village with a big heart.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Prince Stash
From aristocratic, eccentric friend of Sixties rockstars to TikTok sensation
Steve Conte: If I Ruled The World
Steve Conte is a musician known for his memorable guitar work as a member of New York Dolls, as well as his collaborations with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on the soundtracks to several hit anime series
My Great Escape: Rome, The Eternal City
Our reader Barbara Hull takes a Hollywood-inspired trip to Rome and reveals that some wishes really do come true
BOTANIC GARDENS OF THE WORLD
Tales of extraordinary plants, botanical history and scientific discovery
THIS BACON FAKERY MUST STOP
I WAS RECENTLY given bacon-flavoured dental floss for my birthday. My first question was: who the hell gives dental floss as a gift? My second question was: has bacon gone too far?
GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Meet the Crufts competitors who changed their owners' lives completely
HOME AT LAST!
A cat missing for ten years, a dog who disappeared during a wildfire, and more heartwarming true stories of pets who were lost then found
New Love Lexicon
Do internet terms help or hinder healthy romantic relationships?