Ted “Junior” Gillas

Ted Gillas, better known as Junior, was one of the inmates in the Fiorina “Fury” 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit and stayed on after Weyland-Yutani had closed the prison down.

Junior was killed by the Xenomorph after he sacrificed himself to lure the beast into the toxic waste disposal unit. Junior appears in 1992’s Alien 3 and is played by Holt McCallany.

Biography

Early Life

Junior was sentenced to life in prison for aggravated sexual assault, assault with a deadly weapon, rape and murder.

Ripley’s Arrival on Fiorina 161

An EEV, ejected from the USS Sulaco, carrying Ellen Ripley, Corporal Hicks, Newt and Bishop the android crashed onto Fiorina 161 in 2179. There was just one survivor – Ellen Ripley. After Hicks and Newt’s funeral, Ripley came over to Dillon in the mess hall to thank him for what he had said. Ripley sits in between Gregor and Junior.

Later, when Ripley is recovering Bishop’s remains in the junkyard, a group of prisoners including Junior and Gregor attempt to rape Ripley. Dillon beats them with a metal bar before Ripley leaves.

After Superintendent Andrews is killed, the prisoners come up with a plan to use quinitricetyline to lure the Xenomorph into the toxic waste disposal unit. The chemical is ignited too early which results in a chain reaction of fire and explosions. Gregor is caught on fire and Ripley and Junior come to his aid and put the fire out.

The Xenomorph exits the vents due to the flames and corners Ripley, Dillon and some other prisoners. Junior shouts at the beast and sacrifices himself by running into the nuclear waste disposal unit. The Xenomorph runs in after him and begins mauling him. Ripley seals the door before Junior is killed.

Personality and Traits

Junior’s most distinctive feature is his teardrop tattoo under his right eye. Despite earlier attempting to rape Ripley, he sacrificed himself to trap the ‘Dragon’ in the toxic waste disposal unit.

Behind-The-Scenes

In the theatrical version, it is assumed Junior perished in the quinitricetyline fire but the 2003 Special Edition reveals he sacrificed himself to trap the Xenomorph.

An interview with actor Holt McCallany can be found in a 2015 podcast episode on The Projection Booth that is all about Alien 3.

McCallany said that when he first read the script, he refused the part of Junior as he was only in one scene which was the attempted rape of Ripley. He was prepared to go to England to shoot it and shave his head but he wasn’t happy about a 5-month commitment to shoot it.

David Fincher later called him and told him in the new script, he was going to use him in a lot of scenes. He was humbled by Fincher’s call so McCallany agreed to do the film.

Other Media

Alien 3 Novelization (1992 Novel)

In the Alien 3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster, Junior appears as in the film. The novelization mostly follows the same path as the Alien 3 Assembly Cut.

Alien 3 Comic (1992 Comic)

The Alien 3 Comic is a mixture of the theatrical and assembly cut with some new additions.

Trivia

• Holt McCallany later appears in David Fincher’s Fight Club.

Gallery