Sigourney Weaver says 'Alien' role 'part of her DNA'

Thirty-five years ago, actress Sigourney Weaver assumed the role of warrant officer Ellen Ripley in Alien, one of the most important science-fiction movies ever made.

This fall, Ripley -- believe it or not -- returns as part of a downloadable mission for the video game Alien: Isolation, with Weaver lending her vocal talents to a character she last portrayed in 1997's Alien: Resurrection.

"It was eerie, because it was like no time had passed," Weaver said of reprising the role of Ripley 17 years later. "I opened my mouth and Ripley started talking. I think after four films where I played Ripley, it's somehow part of my DNA now, and I didn't really expect that to be."

Alien: Isolation takes place 15 years after the events of the 1979 film, focusing on Ripley's daughter, Amanda, and her attempts to uncover new details about her mother's disappearance.

Weaver's character will appear in two downloadable missions based on classic scenes from Alien. In Crew Expendable, players can choose Ripley or two other characters -- Dallas or Parker -- and try to lure the alien into an airlock. Last Survivor requires players to help Ripley escape following an attack on Parker and Lambert.

Joining Weaver with adding voices and likenesses are fellow Alien castmates Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett) and Yaphet Kotto (Parker).

"I was very impressed with the seriousness of the way they approached the story, the characters, the environment, all these tiny touches," said Weaver of the video game. "I thought, 'yeah, I'd like to do that!'"

Weaver says she watched the Alien films again to reacquaint herself with the universe before jumping into Isolation, which is her first time working in video games.

"I really don't think of it as a video game," she says. "I think of it as a video experience that, I as an actor, got to enter this world and do what I do."

The Alien franchise has a long track record in video games, dating back to the Atari 2600. While recent entries focused on straightforward combat against xenomorphs, the agile aliens featured in the films, Isolation is described as "survival horror," requiring players to use smarts and strategy to escape the threat.

Weaver credits Alien director Ridley Scott for the franchise's longevity. "Ridley created a world and space that was not a pristine, sterile, futuristic world (like those) that we were used to in literature and movies," she says.

Weaver is also a big fan of technology. She is a former BlackBerry user who switched to an iPhone, "which I now enjoy very much." Her favorite apps and websites include Yelp and Chowhound. "I love to be in a foreign country and be able to find something without having to take a taxi," she says. "It makes me much more independent."

But don't expect Weaver to embrace Google Glass. "I'd rather wear a hat or something."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.