Alien vs. Predator Galaxy recently had the honor and pleasure of sitting down with Carl Toop, the actor who portrayed the principle Alien during Aliens, for the first ever published podcast interview about Carl’s time on the film. We discussed Carl’s past as a dancer, where life took him after Aliens, the audition process, working with James Cameron and plenty more!
One of the scenes in particular we discussed was the iconic scene in which Carl, in the Alien suit, rises behind Newt in the flooded sub-basement of Hadley’s Hope.
It was one of the few times they took my helmet off while we were doing the film. I can't remember the size of the pool but it was warm. It wasn't too bad. It was probably 60/70 cm deep so she [Carrie Henn] could stand up in it. It came up to her chest.
While we were waiting we'd be sitting around chatting away. I took my head off so she wouldn't be too scared which she wasn't anyway. I think she was so used to it by then. They gave us drinks to keep us warm because obviously once we were in the water they wanted to get it done as quickly as possible but obviously there were breaks in it. It was great with her. As a child they just have a good time. She was doing swimming lessons in the water.
I did all my rehearsals beforehand, coming out of the water. Carrie never saw any of that, I don’t think. On the first day we did it and the first take I don’t think Carrie actually knew I was coming out of the water from behind her and I think the reaction you get in the film – it was real surprise. She was surprised to see me coming out of the water right over her. So I think the reaction you get from her was quite a natural reaction of a child with a monster coming out behind her.
The first day I did it the head that they put on me was one of these...I think it was like sponge and I don’t think it’s the right head. James banged on the side of the pool as you could you could hear the banging and then on the third bang I had to come up.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six...I couldn’t get my head up because I had gone under the head had just taken all the water and my head got stuck on the floor. I managed to get my hand up...because the costume was filled with water as well...and then luckily there was someone in the pool that just managed to haul me up.
That was health and safety in those days. That was as good as it got so just change the head and do it again. The second time was fine. The water didn’t soak into the head.
Be sure to check back in on Monday 17th when we post the full interview with Aliens principle Alien actor Carl Toop! If you're not already, you can subscribe to the Alien vs. Predator Galaxy Podcast on a number of different podcasting platforms including iTunes, PodBean, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Spotify and Amazon Music.
We also previously had the pleasure of speaking to Carrie Henn about her experiences filming Aliens! So if the wait for Monday is too long, you should check out our podcast with Carrie Henn!
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