Sigourney Weaver Is Desperate for a Director's Cut of Her Underrated Sci-Fi Classic

More than 25 years later, Galaxy Quest is still one of the most beloved sci-fi comedies ever made — and according to Sigourney Weaver, it could’ve been even better. While breaking down her career in a new Vanity Fair video interview, the Alien icon looked back at the 1999 cult classic and revealed she still wishes audiences could see the version of the film that almost was: an edgier, more sophisticated, borderline R-rated cut that never made it out of the studio vault. And honestly? Same.

Directed by Dean Parisot, Galaxy Quest is both a parody and a genuine love letter to sci-fi fandom, following the washed-up cast of a Star Trek-style TV series who are accidentally recruited by real aliens to save the galaxy. Weaver played Gwen DeMarco, an actress forever trapped in a role defined by cleavage, technobabble, and zero character depth — a dynamic Weaver says hit a little too close to home.

“I wanted to play a young woman in that world of stardom, who wants so much to be a star and who, because she’s beautiful and bosomy and blonde, no one takes very seriously. Not even the commander. And I felt great compassion and sisterhood with Gwen and Tawny.”

Interestingly, Weaver said she actually relates more to Gwen than to Ellen Ripley, the character that made her a legend. Gwen’s frustration, resentment, and self-awareness felt real — and very intentional. But that intentionality was apparently toned down at the last minute. According to Weaver, DreamWorks decided to soften Galaxy Quest just before release, cutting some of the film’s more adult and “sophisticated” material to make it more family-friendly. The reason? Studio competition.

“I wish they put out a director’s cut of the movie. Because, at the last minute, DreamWorks decided to release the movie with some of the more sophisticated scenes cut that Alan was in because it needed a kids’ movie to go up against Stuart Little.”

Is There a Galaxy Quest Sequel?

Weaver specifically singled out Alan Rickman, whose turn as Alexander Dane — a Shakespearean actor eternally annoyed at being known for a rubber-foreheaded alien — is now legendary. According to her, Rickman had “very, very strange and wonderful scenes” that were trimmed to hit a younger demographic. And if you’ve ever watched Galaxy Quest and thought, “This feels smarter than it’s allowed to be,” that’s probably why.

The film, which also starred Tim Allen, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell, went on to become a cult favorite anyway, beloved for how sincerely it treats fandom, actors, and genre storytelling. But sequel plans never fully recovered after Rickman’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2016. Weaver confirmed that a sequel script did exist.

“Bob Gordon had written a second one,” she said, “and he wouldn’t give it to DreamWorks because he just felt they’d missed the boat on ours. And so we always meant to do a sequel, and then with Alan passing away, we just lost heart.”