Lily James Reveals Her Unlikely Link to Alien
Alien hits different for Lily James: every rewatch of the 1979 classic stuns her when the Nostromo’s computer speaks — it’s her grandmother, Helen Horton.
Lily James keeps getting blindsided by Alien, and honestly, fair. Every time she revisits Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, she hears a voice on the Nostromo and remembers: the ship's computer, Mother, is played by her grandmother. Yes, really.
The Alien connection
James recently threw Alien back on while she was mulling over Sigourney Weaver as a touchstone for a role she wanted. Halfway through, she clocked it again: the disembodied voice guiding the crew? That is her grandma, Helen Horton. And it still freezes her in place.
"I was watching it recently because I was thinking of Sigourney Weaver as an inspiration for a role I was hoping to play," she said. "And I do just stop in my tracks every time, like, 'My God, this is crazy, that's my grandma!'"
Who was Helen Horton?
Horton voiced Mother, the calm, unnerving computer that everyone on the Nostromo relies on until things get... not calm. James has talked before about how her grandmother's work and voice were just part of the family wallpaper growing up. She has described Horton as impossibly elegant, with bone structure that could cut glass, and an American accent so old-school it almost reads as British to modern ears. If you are into deep-cut movie trivia, this is a pretty fantastic one.
The one time she namedropped it
James says she does not trot out the 'my gran is Mother in Alien' fun fact as a career move. She did pull it exactly once to impress Edgar Wright. It landed. Wright, who has seen everything and is as film-obsessed as they come, thought it was genuinely cool.
Where you have seen James lately
- Baby Driver: Written and directed by Edgar Wright. James plays Debora opposite Ansel Elgort's Baby.
- Pam & Tommy: She led the Hulu series as Pamela Anderson.
- Relay: Her newest film is now in cinemas.