Wierzbowski

Private Trevor Wierzbowski was a United States Colonial Marine and was dispatched as part of a squad to investigate the sudden loss of communication of the Hadley’s Hope colony. He was either killed outright in the hive infestation or was abducted by a Xenomorph. Wierzbowski appears in the 1986 film Aliens and is played by Trevor Steedman.

Biography

Mission to Hadley’s Hope

In 2179, after contact is lost with the Hadley’s Hope colony, a team of Colonial Marines is dispatched to investigate LV-426 along with Carter Burke and Ellen Ripley. When the Sulaco reached LV-426, they exited hypersleep. He listened to Ripley outlining the mission.

The squad boarded the APC and dropped down into Hadley’s Hope. The squad entered the complex. They found that there had been a big firefight but there were no signs of life except for a young girl called Newt. The squad realised that all the colonists had been taken to the Atmosphere Processing Plant and the squad set off to investigate. Burke, Gorman and Ripley stayed inside the APC and kept in contact with the Marines over the radio.

The Marines soon entered the Alien Hive. Ripley realised that shooting with their weapons would damage the plant so Gorman ordered Apone to confiscate his squad’s ammunition and told them to switch to flamethrowers. The group found the colonists cocooned on the walls. One of them was still alive and the squad watched on as a Chestburster emerged from her. They killed the Chestburster with the Flamethrowers.

The hive’s Xenomorphs awoke hearing the commotion and the squad were surrounded. In the chaos, Frost and Dietrich were killed, and Crowe and Wierzbowski went to help, not realising that Frost’s bag of ammunition was on fire. Corporal Hicks pulled Wierzbowski out of the way before the bag exploded, throwing them back. Corporal Hicks checked on Wierzbowski, before checking on Crowe. Wierzbowski’s fate is unclear. Either he was killed outright by a Xenomorph or was abducted by one of them.

Personality and Traits

Wierzbowski was another quiet member of the squad.

Weapons & Equipment

Wierzbowski had the standard issue M3 Pattern Personal Armor with an M10 Pattern Ballistic Helmet and a Shoulder Lamp attachment. He had customized his armour with the text “SPAM IN A CAN” and had hand-drawn art on the back. His helmet had the text “SKI” above his name. Wierzbowski carried an M240 Incinerator Unit as his primary weapon.

Behind-The-Scenes

Trevor’s audition was in a hotel in a room that director James Cameron had booked. There were over a hundred people queuing and each one got around 5 minutes for the audition. James Cameron asked Steedman to pick up a piece of wood nearby and pretend it was a gun. Then come through the door with it and dive on the floor.

Steedman felt confident that the audition went well as he was in the room a lot longer than everybody else, chatting to James Cameron. He went home and then finally got a call six weeks later from the assistant director Derek Cracknell who said he had got the part and he would be starting the following Monday.

There is a little more footage that was filmed when Corporal Hicks rescued Wierzbowski from the ammunition explosion. Hicks is seen to be propping up Wierzbowski against a wall before he checks on Crowe.

You can read more about Trevor’s experience on Aliens by reading our Trevor Steedman Interview.

Other Media

Aliens Novelization (1986 Novel)

In the Aliens Novelization written by Alan Dean Foster, Wierzbowski has a lot of dialogue. In the film, all of this dialogue is spoken by other characters.

Aliens: Newt’s Tale (1992 Comic)

Aliens: Newt’s Tale is a 1992 comic book adaptation of Aliens and Wierzbowski is abducted by a Xenomorph.

Aliens: Bug Hunt (2017 Novel)

Wierzbowski appears in a short story in the 2017 anthology novel Aliens: Bug Hunt. In the story Blowback, this is a mission before Aliens where Corporal Dietrich and her squad including Wierzbowski are dispatched to a toxic world to kill indigenous lifeforms.

Trivia

• Wierzbowski was rumoured to appear in the 2013 video game Aliens: Colonial Marines. Instead, it was eventually confirmed to be Corporal Hicks who was the surviving Marine.
• In the novel Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay, Hicks recalls a night drinking with Wierzbowski where Hicks called him a cheap drunk.
• Actor Trevor Steedman appeared in the 2012 fan film Aliens: Epilogue.

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