Based on the much-loved book of the same name by Patrick Ness, JA Bayona's film concerns Conor (Lewis MacDougall), a troubled teen who fights with his father, grandmother, classmates, and a gigantic, nocturnal creature (Neeson), while his mother (Felicity Jones) struggles with cancer. It was required for Liam Neeson's titular giant in A Monster's Call, where Weaver plays a more earthbound English grandma. They think were sitting in sound booth putting a voice to something that has already been made.” Weaver hopes viewers will soon realise the work that goes in to performance capture: “It’s so interesting and people just don’t quite get it. He can go in to the computer and take what he needs from that same master." The technology is so advanced that if he gets a master that he loves, he doesn't have to do close-ups. You don't have to do a lot of coverage or shots. "I'm playing a different character – a wonderful character – and it's really cool. "I have four Avatars to do," she says, with a more than a hint of giddiness. A versatile performer who is as soft in Ghostbusters as she is hard in The Ice Storm, Weaver is currently working on various Avatar sequels with James Cameron. In 1989, she attended the Oscars as a rare double nominee, with nods in the Best Actress ( Gorillas in the Mist) and Best Supporting Actress ( Working Girl) categories. Two years later, her turn as Ripley in Ridley Scott's Alien would make for one of cinema's most lasting icons. She had already carved out a successful off-Broadway career by the time she scored a tiny role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977). And I never, ever called a friend of my father’s again.” Rolls on a roleĪs it happened, she didn't need any assistance. My dad suggested I call you in case I could be in something at NBC.’ And he said: ‘Do yourself a favour kid: get a job at Bloomingdales.’ And that was it. And I said ‘Hi, this is Sigourney Weaver, Pat’s daughter. “When I first got to New York my father suggested I call on a friend of his. Having graduated from Stanford with a BA and the Yale University School of Drama with an MFA, Weaver only once attempted to make use of family connections. If I had met her before I changed my name, I don’t think there’s any way I would have changed it.” And I was named after this brilliant English woman who helped start the Flying Doctors in Africa. The irony is that now, everyone calls me Sig or Siggy. I thought I’d call myself Sigourney until I could figure something better out. “I look back on it and wonder, what the hell were you thinking? The truth is, I never expected it to last. I had a long middle name but I didn’t feel grand enough to be an Alexandra. So I picked a name that was as long as I am. And Suzy is a lovely, little creature’s name. But at 14 I was Suzy and I was already this tall.” She widens her arms to maximum wingspan. Is this evidence of a wilful adolescence? As a teenager, she plucked "Sigourney" from F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Her birth certificate reads Susan Alexandra Weaver. I’m still constantly delighted with how I’m getting on.” “My expectations of the industry were very low. Even though they were very important, worthy ideas. He was very successful at some and completely defeated in others. I had seen my father try all sorts of wonderful things. Because I knew that it was not a nice business. But once I became an actor – and more specifically a working actor – I felt so very lucky. “Growing up, I was much, much too shy to ever think that I was going to be an actor.