Aliens (film) - Casting

Casting

For more details on individual characters, see List of characters in the Alien series.

Cameron opted to hire actors who had, or could imitate, American accents. After over 3,000 individuals in the United Kingdom were unsuccessfully auditioned, American actors were chosen instead, including three who had previously worked with Cameron on The Terminator: Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Michael Biehn. Actors who played Marines were asked to read Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers and undergo military training, which included running, lifting weights, learning salutes, marches, deployments, and maneuvers, for two weeks. Cameron wanted the Marines to train together so that they would form bonds that would show on-screen. Sigourney Weaver, William Hope, and Paul Reiser were absent from training due to other obligations, but Cameron felt that this suited their characters as "outsiders" in the film.

The principal cast members of Aliens are:

• Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks, one of the Colonial Marines' squad leaders. James Remar was originally cast as Hicks but left the picture due to artistic differences with Cameron. Biehn was hastily cast a week after filming had commenced, and thus was not present for the military training that the other actors playing marines went through.
• Jenette Goldstein as Private Jenette Vasquez, one of the marines' "smart gun" operators. Goldstein received a Saturn Award for best supporting actress for her performance.
• Carrie Henn as Newt, a child who is the only survivor of the colony on LV-426. According to the casting director, Newt was the most difficult role to cast: schoolchildren were auditioned, but many of them had acted in commercials and were accustomed to smiling after saying their lines, a trait that the producers wished to avoid as it would not suit Aliens' dark tone. Henn, whose father was stationed at an American military base, was chosen out of 500 children for the role, although she had no previous acting experience. Henn received a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
• Lance Henriksen as Bishop, the android executive officer of the Sulaco.
• William Hope as Lieutenant William Gorman, the marines' commanding officer.
• Al Matthews as Sergeant Al Apone. Matthews attributed his casting to his military experience.
• Bill Paxton as Private William Hudson, the Marine team's technician. Paxton's performance earned him a Saturn Award for best supporting actor.
• Paul Reiser as Carter Burke, a corporate representative for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.
• Mark Rolston as Private Mark Drake, Vasquez's smart gun partner.
• Cynthia Dale Scott as Corporal Cynthia Dietrich, the marines' corpsman.
• Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, reprising her role from Alien. Weaver received a Saturn Award for best actress for her performance and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, her first Academy Award nomination, though she lost to Marlee Matlin for her role in Children of a Lesser God.

Additional marines were played by Tip Tipping (as Private Tim Crowe), Trevor Steedman (as Private Trevor Wierzbowski), Colette Hiller (as dropship pilot Corporal Collette Ferro), Daniel Kash (as dropship crew chief Private Daniel Spunkmeyer), and Ricco Ross (as Private Ricco Frost). Paul Maxwell portrayed Van Leuwen, the head of the review board that revokes Ripley's flight license.