Aileen Wu became accustomed to working with the 'Alien: Romulus' creatures, characterized by their layer of lubricant.
"I've been keeping my cool and not letting it all get to me too much," Wu mentioned in a recent chat with CNN regarding joining the "Alien" franchise, a renowned sci-fi/horror property in Hollywood's history. "It's just been about soaking up all the knowledge I can about how influential this universe has been for people over the past 45 years."
"Romulus" is tagged as the seventh major film in the "Alien" series, due in part to Ridley Scott's horrifying space haunt from 1979, featuring Sigourney Weaver. This film, along with James Cameron's 1986 sequel, laid the groundwork for the series, known for its grotesque, sticky, and extremely harmful extraterrestrial aliens with acidic blood and birth via facehuggers and chestbursters.
"We were all fortunate that Fede (Álvarez, director of 'Romulus') decided to go all-in with practical effects. I didn't see a single green screen or tennis ball. It was just creepy creatures and monsters, right in your face, coated in lube because they were all so shiny," Wu shared. "It's in-your-face and pretty unsettling."
The franchise's use of practical effects remains a staple, a tradition dating back to the now-iconic death scene of Kane (John Hurt) in the first film, the first victim of a chestburster. The cast was unaware of the animal entrails used by Scott's team to create the grisly effects, resulting in authentic, realistic reactions.
Despite her reluctance to compare herself to Hurt and other previous film cast members ("Sigourney Weaver is a god," Wu acknowledged), her character's encounters with the creatures (as depicted in the "Romulus" final trailer) meant close contact on set.
"I had that thing on my face for days on end," Wu reminisced about facehuggers, one of which is visible tightly hugging her head in the awe-inspiring 'Romulus' poster. "I made peace with them while I had to work with them."
She also confessed that the viral marketing campaigns for the movie, featuring people lying on the floor with facehuggers on at Comic Con and Times Square, made her feel sick and uncomfortable. "I feel sorry for those people because I can relate," she admitted, discussing the difficulty of syncing her breathing with the facehugger's 'bladders' (gross!).
However, Wu's shaved head in the new movie may not necessarily be a tribute to Weaver's similar hairstyle in "Alien 3" as some assume. "I've been rocking a shaved head since 2019," Wu explained, revealing her motivation was to feel closer to a family member in China battling cancer during her time in New York studying acting. "I felt so distant, and I wanted to do something that would make me feel close to them. So when they shaved their head, I shaved mine as well."
Post "Alien: Romulus," is Wu ready for more in the sci-fi/horror genre?
"Perhaps in the future, but I'll need to take a little break first if the universe permits," she chuckled. "But I love it. It's so liberating to act out these intense life-or-death situations. You can't think, it's an intense physical experience."
"Alien: Romulus" is currently playing in theaters.
The universe of "Alien" has provided countless hours of entertaining and thrilling content for fans over the past 45 years. Wu's character in "Alien: Romulus" has had numerous close encounters with the franchise's iconic, intimidating extraterrestrial aliens.
