Exclusive: Katherine Waterston discusses working on Alien: Covenant

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Director Ridley Scott's upcoming PROMETHEUS sequel / ALIEN prequel ALIEN: COVENANT will be introducing a new heroine into the franchise with Katherine Waterston's character Daniels, and it looks like she has a chance of being a worthy successor to the series' iconic heroine Ripley. (Even though she's Ripley's predecessor in the timeline.)

JoBlo editor-in-chief Paul Shirey recently had the opportunity to interview Waterston, their conversation covering such subjects as the film's awe-inspiring sets, the gore, what it's like to be directed by Scott, the impact that viewing the original ALIEN had on her, and whether or not Daniels is a Ripley-type character.

Waterston says these films are like "a study of human nature in crisis", where characters discover whether they'll become the most confident or cowardly versions of themselves when faced with conflict. When push comes to shove, it sounds like Daniels – who is described as being a "pretty bright" character – may turn out to be a capable alien fighter.

The full interview, which runs just under 5 minutes, can be seen below, and it's quite interesting to get this early insight into ALIEN: COVENANT and Waterston's role in it in particular.

Written by Michael Green, Jack Paglen, and John Logan, ALIEN: COVENANT takes place ten years after the events of PROMETHEUS and twenty years before ALIEN.

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Waterston's co-stars include Danny McBride, Benjamin Rigby, Demian Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Callie Hernandez, Billy Crudup, Noomi Rapace, James Franco, Guy Pearce, and Michael Fassbender.