Damon Lindelof talks Prometheus; Fassbender and Theron characters explained

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

When it comes to Ridley Scott’s PROMETHEUS, only one person seems to be divulging any information, and that’s screenwriter Damon Lindelof. A few months ago, he shed light on the film’s connection to the beloved ALIEN series, and now he’s giving up some details on a couple of the key characters in the sci-fi epic… (Actually, this interview was done at San Diego Comic Con in July by MTV, but they’ve only just now aired it.)

Regarding Michael Fassbender’s character: “He plays a robot. One of the things that evokes the idea of ‘Blade Runner’ is, ‘What does the movie look like from the robot’s point of view?’ If you were to ask him, ‘What do you think about all of this? What’s going on? What do you think about these humans who are around you?,’ wouldn’t it be cool if we found a way for that robot to answer those questions.”

Asked whether or not Noomi Rapace is the lead character, Lindelof explained that the focus is more on the large ensemble:
“I think one of the really cool things about the first ‘Alien,’ if you watch it cold, Ripley is kind in the background like one of the crew members, and you’re like, ‘Skerrit’s [who played Captain Dallas] the hero of the movie,’ and he’s one of the first to go. And then you’re like, ‘It’s [the engineer played by] Harry Dean Stanton.’ And, no, he’s gone… and suddenly Sigourney Weaver, in the last 40 minutes of the movie, is the only one left alive. I think the idea of building a really cool ensemble and again presenting the audience with like, ‘Who’s going to be left standing at the end of this movie? Maybe all of them. Probably not,’ [that’s] part of the fun of what we set out to do.”

Charlize Theron evidently plays on of the corporate “suits” in the film; an unlikely choice to be sure: “Her character’s name is Meredith Vickers and she’s sort of a corporate entity. That’s another one of the familiar things from the ‘Alien’ movies — that there are corporate interests in play. I feel like Charlize brought a new spin on that old variation. It’s a remix …. I don’t think she’s slimy [like Paul Reiser’s character in ‘Aliens’]. She’s not the fast-talking, snake-oil face of the company. By the way, “What company is she a face of?,” I think is a big part of the fun. As we were developing the script, she had some really cool ideas that made it not the suit you’re used to.”

PROMETHEUS opens on JUNE 8, 2012.