Sigourney Weaver and director Ridley Scott on the set of Alien Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

How much screentime will you have in Avatar? Would you describe your part there as a supporting role?
No, I have the female lead. You know, live action. I guess I would have to say that Sam and Zoe play the romantic leads, but I probably have the next biggest, or as big a part.

Has Jim mellowed any? Is that possible?
I think, you know, he gets impatient trying to get his ideas across to people, but I think he's very mellowed. He was always a sweetheart. [She responds to my raised-eyebrow look] He really was always a sweetheart! He can get impatient with people. I think as long as you don't take it personally... so that hasn't changed. And he always puts so much on himself — in this case, he invented the cameras, he did the sets, he designed the guns, he designed a lot of the creatures that are going to be in this other world — it's all from his head. He's operating the camera. Because people can't read his mind, that makes him a little impatient. I think, considering what he's taken on, he's quite angelic, actually.

Did you guys spend a lot of time talking about the old days, or was it down to business?
Well, it's both. We're very fond of each other because that was quite an experience in itself. So there definitely is a happy vibe working together and then we do try to get on with it. I mean, he created a wonderful character for me. She's a lot like him — she's very impatient, she's very driven, she's got a big heart, she's very complicated and you see very different people in the human world and in the avatar world. It's a fantastic canvas for me to paint on — it's certainly not a supporting role in any way.

What did he think of that DirecTV ad where you appear as Ripley in the Power Loader?
He was behind it! Actually, they offered me a couple of segments and I said, "I think they're picking the wrong moment."

What was the other choice?
Getting pulled out of the airshaft, you know, when the thing grabs my foot. But this one was the iconic moment. I think Jim and I, in this conversation, both agreed that it should be "Get away from her, you bitch!" even if I wasn't allowed to say it. "Get away from her you, eeeerp." So he was all for it. He considered it an homage, you know?

Has he let you read the whole Avatar script? Is he keeping it to himself?
Oh no, I've read the whole script.

What would you compare it to?
I can't think of anything, frankly. I can't think of anything. It's gonna blow the mind of this industry, I think. It's gonna be an experience for people. I don't think they're going to want to come out of the theater. I think kids will want to stay in the theater with their sleeping bags so they don't have to go out into the real world. It's about something. It's about ecology in a lot of ways. About greed.

Imperialism?
Yeah. About love. About becoming a man. You know, a lot of his favorite themes. It's a very dense piece of work. I've only seen the motion-capture 40 percent done, but it's pretty awesome. The live action I've seen almost all of, and it's a very affecting story. When you see scenes that are very affecting in 3D, you can't keep them out.