Sigourney Weaver Explains Why STAR WARS, AVATAR, and ALIEN “Really Couldn't Be More Different”

Sigourney Weaver has officially entered the Star Wars franchise with The Mandalorian and Grogu, adding yet another massive sci-fi franchise to a career that already includes Alien and Avatar.

But while all three properties get grouped together under the sci-fi umbrella, Weaver sees them as completely different experiences.

Speaking about joining Star Wars, Weaver reflected on how strange it is that these franchises are often lumped into the same category.

“It's fascinating to me that they're all considered the same genre. They really couldn't be more different. Alien is a particularly hostile world, a not very nice alien.

“Avatar, it's the humans who are the bad guys. And in this, you have the Mandalorian, who is a hero, and this little, absolutely adorable, wise-seeming little person.”

That “little person,” of course, is Grogu, and it sounds like Weaver was just as enchanted by him as audiences have been since the character first appeared in The Mandalorian.

“I was very lucky because I didn't really have to act with Grogu. He was sitting in the booth with me,” she says. “And I didn't realize then, but he's run by five different puppeteers, and they weren't around, but they were all under the table.

“And so they kept Grogu so alive that the biggest acting job, frankly, was not being completely riveted by him, but playing the scene. I had asked Jon [Favreau] if I could have a scene with Grogu, because that's the delight of being in this picture, and he was kind enough to make this happen.”

Even after decades of acting in genre films, Grogu apparently still caught her off guard. She said: “I've done a lot of movies, and I'm just astonished by how evolved he is. It's very hard for me to realize that there isn't a real person inside of him.”

Weaver also talked about stepping onto the Star Wars sets for the first time and discovering just how immersive the experience really was.

“I think immersive is exactly the word. I got to walk into a typical Star Wars café with a bartender who had things coming out of his head, and order a drink, surrounded by fellow pilots, and the whole range of different species, and it was such a thrill.

“I didn't realize that I would have such a full Star Wars experience just from this one movie. You don't have to have seen a Star Wars movie to enjoy it, but it has everything we love about Star Wars.”

Between Din Djarin, Grogu, aliens hanging around space cafés, and Sigourney Weaver joining the galactic chaos, The Mandalorian and Grogu leans fully into the classic Star Wars adventure vibe.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22.