Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulusdirector Fede Álvarez has gone into detail explaining one of the film’s most controversial decisions.Alien: Romulusfeatures a synthetic character named Rook, but the model of this android unit is the same as Ash fromAlien,played by Ian Holm.Holm passed away in 2020, which is why many fans were shocked atAlien: Romulususing Holm’s likeness for this new vital character inAlien Romulus.
Álvarez spoke withEntertainment Weeklyabout the story and the reason why he wanted to use Holm’s Ash likeness for the movie. Seeing how Lance Henricksen’s Bishop and Michael Fassbender’s David/Walter were used in multiple films, Álvarez wanted to bring back the synthetic character that started it all with Ash inAlien, but explained that it is not the same character. Álvarez said:
“Historically, there’s just a limited amount of synthetics, and that’s why some come back a few times. So we were talking, and Ridley and I felt like the one that has never been back was the best one of them all, the original model played by Ian Holm…He has the likeness, but he has a different demeanor. Rook and Ash have the same knowledge because it’s all Mother [The operating system]. It’s a different android, but it’s the same consciousness of Mother that moved from one android to the other.”
Alien: Romulus
Before they started work on the project, Álvarez reached out to Holm’s family, and was given a huge blessing by the actor’s widow, Sophie de Stempel. To bring the character to life, the combination of an animatronic torso resembling Holm and actor Daniel Betts performing his lines brought the actor back to screens, where he appeared for so many years during his life. Álvarez said:
“The whole thing started with me calling the estate and talking with his widow. She felt that Ian was given the cold shoulder by Hollywood in the last years of his life, that he would’ve loved to be part of more projects afterThe Hobbit, but he wasn’t. So she was thrilled about the idea of having him back….As soon as we finished the rough version, the first thing I did was a call with all his family to ensure they were the first ones that saw it. It was a very, very emotional call. They lost him not too long ago, and I lost my dad, too, around the same time. So I could relate to their pain and also their excitement to see him back in the movie. I’m super proud of how we did it and how we worked with them. I can’t wait for the fans to lose their minds at seeing one of their favorite faces from the original.”
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The decision to use Holm’s likeness for Ash has been met with mixed responses. One of the biggest critiques is the effects used to create the character. Rook is vital to the plot of Alien: Romulus, and many have noted that the character’s lips have been quite distracting in some core scenes. Of course, the other major bone of contention revolves around the ethical question of whether it is right or wrong to bring back a deceased actor without their express permission. While it seems that Holm’s widow made it clear that she knows the actor would have approved of his likeness being used, there is still a chance, had he been alive, that he could have rejected the idea.
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This element ofAlien: Romulushas become a major point of conversation surrounding the movie, as some would say the use of Holm’s likeness was unnecessary. Since the character is synthetic, it could have been a previously unknown model played by a different actor. They also could have brought back Michael Fassbender as David given thatAlien: Romulus does connect heavily toPrometheus. Of course, in the context of Romulus' timeline, an android model that looks like Ash makes sense, but that doesn’t make it any less controversial for some. However, the film is set to debut with a worldwide gross of up to $100 million, so it certainly hasn’t stopped Alien: Romulus becoming another hit entry in the Alien franchise.
