Nothing makes me happier than when my worlds collide, which is why the “basketball” scene in Alien: Resurrection is one of my favorites.
In the scene, Ron Perlman‘s Johner mocks Ripley, who is balling in the ship’s gym. After placating him a bit, she kicks the entire crew’s ass only to resume shooting hoops. While leaving the room, she throws up a no-look shot directly over her head… swoosh. It’s a famous sequence in that Sigourney Weaver allegedly made the shot on her first attempt. Perlman reveals he nearly ruined it…
In an interview with PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing, Perlman told Ogunnaike that Weaver actually made that shot.
“That happned… First time. Nothing but net. As you saw it. No camera tricks, no nothin’,” he said.
He continues: “I watched her training for this sequence, and they were rehearsing this little thing for a month. She never made it once. The camera’s rolling. I’m in the shot where she’s walking away and it goes in.”
Perlman lost it and nearly messed up the shot. “They yell ‘Cut!’ And everybody on the set was white. Instead of being celebratory they were like, ‘Holy f—, Ron just ruined this magical thing.’ Because I was in the shot and there was nothing to cut to,” Perlman said.
Luckily, they were still able to edit right before his celebration and cut to a close-up of a much different reaction…disbelief. Watch below.