A chat with Katherine Waterston

Reading the script, she realised that Daniels was both heroic and complex – the kind of character that comes along all too rarely in a film of this scale. For as Ridley Scott’s latest venture into the Alien universe begins, the terraforming scientist has been left devastated by a tragedy early on. Disillusioned, she is cut off from her fellow crew, unsure of the future, and sceptical about the promise of this uncharted new planet they have been drawn to. With good reason, it will turn out.
Having made a big splash in Paul Thomas Anderson’s comedy noir “Inherent Vice”, and acting alongside her current co-star Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs, the daughter of actor Sam Waterston was most recently seen tackling creatures of a milder stripe in the hit “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. But winning the coveted lead role in “Alien: Covenant” is the true mark of the extraordinary rise of this highly intelligent young actress.
Daniels follows in the grand tradition of unforgettable leading ladies set down by Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. She recently sat down to chat about her character. 

 So what is she like? 
It’s easy to draw a parallel between Daniels and the original Alien’s reluctant hero, Ripley. They are both third in command at the start of the film, they are both smart, good at their jobs, and, of course, they are both women. However, there are significant differences. Primarily, in “Covenant”, Daniels immediately suffers a tragedy. The loss, naturally, affects her outlook on life – she adopts a rather nihilistic perspective. Oddly, I think the challenging events of the film return her to herself. Nothing makes you want live like an alien trying to kill you!

Does Daniels get along with the rest of the Covenant’s crew?
The Covenant crew is made up of couples. So there are many sub-communities within the larger community. Daniels has been cut off from that. She is more isolated than the rest but she definitely has a few very dear friends up there. That was one of my first questions for Ridley and John Logan: how well do these people know each other? Some of the crew, Daniels included, have been preparing for this mission for many years so there are some long-term friendships but some long-term tensions, too.

What is your memory of first seeing Alien?
My friend’s older brother showed it to me when I was far too young to see it. But I am pretty sure the first thing I saw of the original Alien was John Hurt’s chestburster scene.

What did you think when you finally saw the complete film?
I was blown away. What was so terrifying for me was how it forced me to contend with my own anticipation, anxiety, and twisted imagination. I was amazed by how often it was what you didn’t see that was most disturbing. I watched the deleted scenes recently and saw that Ridley had, in fact, filmed Harry Dean Stanton getting attacked. But in the film, all he shows us is Yaphet Kotto’s horrified reaction to the attack. I said to him to the other day, “You actually shot that attack, I thought you had figured out that you weren’t going to need it.” “No,” he said, “you shoot everything, then figure out whether you need it.” I think that was so courageous, to develop this incredible creature and then have the guts to not use it too much. Ridley understands that audiences can think of things much more disturbing than anything that can be conjured up on film. Like with Dallas’ death and the shot of the little dot on the scanner — how can a little dot disappearing be so scary?!

 What is Daniel’s role on the Covenant?
Daniels, my character, is the chief terraformist on the Covenant. So her job doesn’t really begin until they arrive at the planet they’re en route to. She’s responsible, basically, for sustaining life on the new planet. She’s not a warrior, she’s a space gardener.

Does that mean you didn’t get any weapons training?
I did, but I was always concerned with looking too proficient. In every stunt rehearsal I was asking: “Do I look enough like someone who doesn’t really know how to use a gun?” “Does this move look too elegant or experienced?” At the beginning, we did basic military training, which included learning the correct way to hold a gun; I kept putting my pointer finger in the wrong place but I decided not to do correct that mistake because I figured a scientist with basic weapons training might not be worried about where her finger is when there’s an alien in the room! I tried to strike a balance – I wanted her to seem physically capable of defending herself but not to seem superhuman. Daniels’ strength isn’t always merely physical, in many circumstances it is the strength of her mind, her ability to think quickly in crises that keeps her from harm.

Does Daniels engage in any of the grander themes present in “Prometheus?”
That’s hard to answer without giving too much away! But I’ll say, there is a subtle debate going on between Daniels and Oram (Billy Crudup) about religious beliefs and the question of creation.
The Covenant crew doesn’t know what happened to the Prometheus crew. To my understanding, they only know there was a mission that was lost. With Covenant, Ridley is continuing to reveal how we get from Prometheus to the original Alien. So I am curious about where it will go next.

So how scary does it get? 
Ridley is thinking about that question all the time. What will raise the stakes in a moment? What will build the tension? With Ridley at the helm, it’s a safe bet that it will be pretty terrifying. He is just the masterful of freaking people out. There are some pretty gory bits as well which is definitely a return to the aesthetic of the original Alien.
Ridley, with the use of practical special effects and beautiful, disturbing, interactive sets gave all the actors so much to work with and, in turn, be terrified by. There was a moment where we were doing a really wide shot and I couldn’t see any of the crew, or the cameras, microphones, anything. And then a door opened and this massive Alien came into the room. It was a very disturbing sensation: to be this little, vulnerable person all alone with that thing!