Sigourney Weaver is a woman who means business.
Not content with playing the role of a damsel in distress, the 69 year old has often played fierce female characters in films such as Alien, Ghostbusters, Gorillas in the Mist, and Avatar.
The actress is currently filming the sequels to the latter, which are again being directed by Academy Award winner James Cameron.
Sigourney was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about her thoughts on diversity in the film industry.
“I’ve been working on Avatar 2 and 3 with James Cameron, and the base of his crew was so many guys he’s worked with over many years. And there are a lot of young people involved. I think one of the frustrations is that there haven’t been enough training programs to diversify the crew community, the cast community, but primarily there has to be a much bigger emphasis in the industry in bringing new people into the business,” she said.
As for where the industry is headed?
“Even if all the crews wanted to bring in a more diverse crew, more women, minorities, that hasn’t been prioritized. I think the answer is, the unions and the studios need to actively start embracing that now. Everyone I work with agrees that it would be so much better if, when you looked around the stage, it reflected what life is like in America, which is a diverse community.”
