
Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt performance of The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver
Alien star Weaver, 75, was escorted away by staff at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane on Monday after two members of the group climbed on to the stage.
The Bafta-award winning actress had been sitting on a chair during the performance of the Shakespeare play in which she portrays the storm-creating magician Prospero - a role typically played by a man.
The protesters launched a confetti cannon and a voice called out: "We'll have to stop the show ladies and gentlemen, sorry."
A video posted online by the climate protest group shows the activists, carrying a sign reading "over 1.5 degrees is a global shipwreck", as they are met with boos and a few cheers from the audience.
The sign was a reference to the recent announcement that 2024 had been the warmest on record globally and the first full year when the average temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
One of the protesters, Hayley Walsh, 42, a lecturer from Nottingham, said she was "scared" for her three children.
"I can't sleepwalk them into a future of food shortages, life-threatening storms and wars for resources," she said in a statement released by the group.
"Years of writing to MPs, going on marches and teaching my students to be more sustainable hasn't seen the urgent change needed."
The other activist, Richard Weir, a 60-year-old mechanical engineer from North Tyneside, added: "We're already seeing the damage this crisis is doing to crops, homes and entire neighbourhoods.
"Unless we come together and demand a move away from fossil fuels by 2030, we will go the same way as manufacturing in the UK."
It is the latest in a string of stunts carried out by Just Stop Oil protesters, including the recent spray-painting of Charles Darwin's grave in Westminster.
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Time Out
3 hours ago
- Time Out
Where is ‘Alien: Earth' filmed? The locations behind Disney+'s stunning new Alien TV series
It was in 1979 when Ridley Scott's Alien introduced us to a space where no one can hear you…being terrorized by chest-bursting, face-hugging extraterrestrials. Seven films later, the slimy reptilian Xenomorphs still haunt us, only now in a TV series and on our planet. A prequel set two years before the original film, Alien: Earth marks a unique chapter in the franchise as it's not only the first Alien series but also the first Alien story that is primarily set on our own planet. The FX series is created by Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) and puts a new spin on the Alien lore, as the Xenomorphs don't just crawl inside a space vehicle this time; they crash-land on our very planet. But where did Alien: Earth recreate its Earth of 2120 AD? Strangely enough, that's where the sci-fi horror series collides with the latest season of The White Lotus. Where was Alien: Earth filmed? The entirety of Alien: Earth was filmed in Thailand, incorporating 13 studios, the futuristic buildings of the capital city, Bangkok, and the stunning green backdrops of nature getaways like Phuket and Krabi. The Thailand Film Office suggests that Alien: Earth also marks the highest investment in the country's history of international film production, with 2.8 billion baht (approximately 85.4 million US dollars). The series was primarily filmed for 123 days at several locations in Bangkok, Surat Thani, Samut Prakan, Krabi, and Phang Nga. Even when the Writers Guild strikes prevented filming with American actors, the series had still started filming with its British actors and more than 1,600 Thai crew members across various departments. For location manager Tunyod Kulviroj, the 123-day shoot in Thailand offered 'a unique, futuristic and visually stunning backdrop for bringing Alien: Earth to life'. He adds that showrunner Noah Hawley embraced a 'Neo-Thailand' for the series, filming everything from boat journeys down Bangkok's canals to sequences set within deeply forested jungles and open beaches. 'This striking contrast of locations helped shape the distinct, otherworldly aesthetic of the future Earth we created for the series,' adds Kulviroj. The crew filmed through every season in Thailand, fully embracing the tropical climate of the East Asian country. The monsoon moisture only went on to enhance the neo-futuristic grittiness of the cityscapes, while the deep blue skies of the dry season enhanced the backdrop for the lush jungle landscapes. Bangkok Setting the series in a futuristic Thailand meant a lot of filming in Bangkok, basking in both the neon-lit haze of its high-rise locales and the shadows of its royal and military past. 'Bangkok feels like a city straight out of the future,' says Kulviroj. 'The striking contrast between old, decaying architecture, rain-soaked streets, and bustling food stalls against sleek, ultra-modern cityscapes creates a quintessential sci-fi atmosphere.' The trigger point in Alien: Earth is the crash of the space vessel Maginot, an event that heralds the arrival of some uninvited guests from the cosmos. Setting up the crash site came with its own challenges. Kulviroj explains that the exterior crash site was set at Bangkok's ever-bustling Neon Market, more specifically, 'a massive parking lot surrounded by towering buildings'. So, the crew was tasked with not just coordinating large-scale explosions but also managing vast crowds of background extras. The interior crash site was constructed inside an abandoned five-story shopping mall. The phantom mall posed challenges, like draining a flooded basement and building a makeshift roof. Ao Nam, Krabi Google the Thai province of Krabi and you'll know why it's one of Thailand's premier filming destinations. With its clear blue waters and slithering mangrove roots, every widescreen frame at Ao Nam resembles a scenic Windows wallpaper. Even in Alien: Earth, this coastal tourist hotspot provided a lot of necessary visual backdrops. The Ao Nam beach, in particular, appears significantly in the FX series. As Kulviroj notes: 'From pristine beaches and towering limestone cliffs to dense jungles, mountains, and caves, it provided a visually dynamic setting for our story.' Studio Park, Samut Prakan Just 25 kilometres outside Bangkok lies the 85-acre Studio Park. This is where most of Alien: Earth 's interior scenes, sprawling set pieces, and crawling Xenos came to life. The Park spans five complexes, each with five purpose-built soundstages, and is looking to invite more big-budget international productions to Thailand. Surat Thani Surat Thani, aka the 'City of a Hundred Islands' boasts limestone cliffs and beaches like Krabi, along with some vibrant coral reefs. The Khao Sok natural reserve also lies here, with its dense virgin jungles and rock formations resembling sci-fi worlds like Pandora in James Cameron's Avatar. Phang Nga A province in southern Thailand, Phang Nga, is yet again known for its tall limestone rock formations. But one such limestone islet is Hollywood royalty. The 20m-tall rock Ko Tapu was significantly featured in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Khao Phing Kan, the islet where this rock resides, is often nicknamed James Bond Island for this reason. Who stars in Alien: Earth? Much like the Alien films, the cast plays characters that include not just human astronauts but also artificial beings like cyborgs and the biomechanical humanoids known as Synethetics. In Alien: Earth, Sydney Chandler stars as Wendy, the first hybrid – a human whose memories are transferred into a synthetic body. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Justified and Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant, The End of the F****** World lead Alex Lawther, The Babadook 's Essie Davis, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child 's Samuel Blenkin, Into the Badlands villain Babou Ceesay, and Bollywood actor Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger, Superboys of Malegaon). As for the alien in Alien: Earth, stuntman and actor Cameron Brown plays the Xenomorph in costume. Where can I stream Alien: Earth? The first two episodes of Alien: Earth are on FX and Hulu in the United States and Disney+ worldwide now.


Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Alien: Earth review: This surreal Disney+ reboot is a true genre-buster - but it won't appeal to many, warns CHRISTOPHER STEVENS
Rating: Panto season will never be the same again. Disney have invented a new kind of movie sequel crossover, updating Sigourney Weaver 's horror classic Alien by blending it with Peter Pan. Alien: Earth sees Wendy and the Lost Boys blast off from the planet of Neverland to fight intestine-munching monsters that have crashlanded their spaceship on a Chinese city. Clips from the 1953 Disney cartoon original play in the background, usually while something blood-curdling is unfolding in the foreground. And there's a lot of blood to curdle – this is far gorier than the version of Alien that killed off John Hurt with a snake-headed special effect bursting out of his chest. We see people burned alive, half-eaten corpses (literally half-eaten – top half swallowed, legs left untasted) and soldiers drained of blood by scorpion-like leeches. The instructions for finding Neverland appear to have changed. It's now, 'Second dismembered corpse on the right and straight on till morning.' Peter Pan has become the galaxy's youngest trillionaire (Samuel Blenkin), though he behaves more like villainous Captain Hook. Adrian Edmondson plays his obsequious bo'sun, Mr Smee, who is now called Atom Eins. Disturbingly surreal though it is, I imagine this eight-part serial will appeal to audiences in a narrow age-band – old enough to want gore and gun battles, young enough to retain some affection for the innocent movies of their childhood. My suspicion is confirmed by a scene in which Wendy (Sydney Chandler), and her brother Joe (Alex Lawther), separated by light years, both watch another children's cartoon, Ice Age... a favourite so familiar that they're each able to recite the lines. Disney might have devised a whole new genre here. Why not remake Star Wars with the Teletubbies – 'Tinky-Winky... I am your father'? Or what about Terminator vs Cinderella, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger loses his glass slipper and has to fight an entire army of Ugly Sisters to get it back? Before the advent of streaming channels with unlimited budgets, Alien: Earth would have been unthinkable. It works, up to a point, because no expense has been spared in recreating the look of the first Alien movie, released in 1979. The explosions on board the spaceship look real, not CGI. And in a knowing in-joke, the crew behave like 1970s space-farers, chain-smoking and making sexist remarks... at least until they're all devoured. Meanwhile, on the Neverland 'research island', a girl with terminal cancer is about to have her conscious mind transferred into a synthetic adult body. When she wakes up, Wendy is still mentally a child, but she is physically all but indestructible – able to leap off cliffs and outrun bullets. Fans of another '70s hit, The Six Million Dollar Man, and his counterpart The Bionic Woman, will recognise these superpowers. The stars of those shows, Lee Majors and Lyndsey Wagner, never fought aliens... but only because the scriptwriters didn't think of it. Housework tip of the night: Every time we see customs officer Dom (Ashley Thomas) at home on In Flight (C4), he's moodily pressing the laundry with a fancy steam iron. He still managed to burn one of his shirts, though. Try a lower heat on man-made fabrics, Dom.


Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Alien's tragic star: The cruel fate of 7ft-tall Nigerian student who played monster in 1979 film after chance sighting - as new show airs
With its spine-chilling special effects and utterly horrifying scenes, Alien was the film that bid a slimy goodbye to the 1970s. The production, which told the story of a Space mission gone horribly wrong, made director Ridley Scott and actress Sigourney Weaver household names. But the central star was someone whose face viewers never saw - and who was not an actor at all. Nigerian art student Bolaji Badejo was the man chosen to play the eponymous monster after Scott's casting director spotted him in a pub. Thanks to his 6ft 7inch, lanky frame, Badejo was the perfect fit for the $250,000 latex suit made by surrealist artist HR Giger. And despite having no experience on the big or small screen, Badejo pulled off a role that would go down in cinema folklore. Tragically though, by the time second sequel Alien 3 was released in 1992, Badejo was seriously ill with sickle cell anaemia, a disease he had suffered from all his life. He would not live to see the further spin-off films, or the full impact of a franchise that is now being refreshed with the release of TV drama Alien: Earth. The original film tells the story of the crew of space ship the Nostromo, who encounter a murderous life form on a planet far from Earth. Weaver's performance as the the gun-toting Ripley disproved the notion that a woman would not be suitable for such a role. But Badejo, who was plucked from total obscurity, proved that he was up to the task too. In a 2008 interview, Scott recounted how he settled on the Nigerian to play the Alien after he was spotted by chance in London. 'We started with a stunt man who was quite thin, but in the rubber suit he looked like the Michelin Man,' he said. 'So my casting director [Peter Archer] said, "I've seen a guy in a pub in Soho who is about seven feet tall, has a tiny head and a tiny skinny body." 'So he brought Bolaji Badejo to the office.' In the autumn of 1979, with his role in Alien still fresh in his mind, Badejo gave an interview to American film magazine Cinefantastique. He said of the suit, the head of which was brought to life by a mechanics system created by the late special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi: 'It was all manual, remote-controlled. 'There's still a space in it for my head. I had it on just to make sure nothing goes wrong with the posture of the head or how tall it is in comparison to the other sequences.' The slime that came out of the Alien's mouth was in fact K-Y Jelly, the popular lubricant more commonly associated with bedroom antics than film production. 'They must have had about 2,000 tubes of K-Y Jelly, just to get the effect of that slime coming out of his mouth,' Badejo added. 'A lot of it was spread around the face. I could barely see what was going on around me, except when I was in a stationary position while they were filming. 'Then there were a few holes I could look through.' To prepare for his all-important role, Balejo took Tai Chi and mime classes so that he could glide in an alien-like fashion. His widow, Yinka, previously recalled: 'Even though some days were long and gruelling and he had to make an early morning start, Bolaji never complained.' Veronica Cartwright, who portrayed crew member Lambert, vividly remembered the moment Balejo's Alien attacked her. She said in 2013: 'Believe me, when he comes after me in that scene I didn't have to do anything. 'I just looked at him and, the thing was, once he uncoiled he just stood there. And I just had to look at him, and you go, "oh s***". 'And instinctively what he did was just amazing. He had this incredible presence. And you know people say, "how did you make yourself scared?" 'I didn't do anything; I just had to look at him.' Speaking to the Mail in 2010, Weaver said Balejo was separated from the rest of the cast so they would not become desensitised to his appearance. 'Ridley was very careful not to have him standing around, drinking tea with us during breaks and because he was kept apart from us and we never chatted, when it came to seeing him as this creature during a scene, it was electrifying. 'It didn't feel that we were acting scared at all.' The star also heaped praise on the film, which she said 'put me on the map'. 'I think Alien really was ahead of its time,' she said. 'It showed that women and men could do the same jobs and that in many ways, women's patience and fortitude and organisation sometimes made them better suited for dangerous work than men. 'Ripley was a kind of warrior and I''m really glad she got to wear proper clothes instead of a tiny skirt or something. 'I didn't feel I had to be glamorous, whereas now with female action heroes I think there's more of an expectation of that.' 'It was my first big, real job and I remember during the first week, Ridley kept saying to me: "Try not to look in the camera" and I'd say: "I'm trying not to look in the camera, but you're always putting it right in front of me". 'I didn't know anything! So I cut my teeth on Alien and every time I did a sequel, I came back with that much more confidence and knowledge and technique.' Balejo went on to have two children, Bibi and Yinka, with his wife and set up his own art gallery. But his condition began to affect him more severely in the late 1980s. In 1992, a few months after his 39th birthday, the star fell ill. He was taken to St Stephen Hospital in Lagos and died there in December 1992. Alien: Earth has been made by director Noah Hawley, the man behind successful TV drama Fargo. Airing on Disney+, it is set two years before the events of the first film. The show depicts the aftermath of a deep space vessel crash-landing on Earth with an alien on board. Alien:Earth stars Sydney Chandler as lead character Wendy, whilst Timothy Olyphant and Alex Lawther also feature. Mr Hawley told Reuters: 'By bringing the story to Earth, we're shifting to, "can humanity itself survive, right?" 'And then it becomes a question of, "well, what is humanity, and do we really deserve to survive?"'