Sigourney Weaver paid tribute to her Foreigner co-star Yaphet Kotto on Wednesday, recalling the intensity of the late actor when the two were making the iconic 1979 sci-fi thriller.
“Every day Yaphet Kotto surprised me on the set of Foreigner, ”Weaver wrote in a brief statement. “He just did it in each scene, making the stakes higher and higher and giving each scene a terrifying reality. It was an uninterrupted master class for me and I will always be grateful to him. “
Weaver ended his memory with the signature: “Rest In Peace Parker … Shift and shut down, Ripley.”
Kotto, who died Monday at the age of 81, played chief engineer Dennis Parker in Foreigner, who almost manages to escape Nostromo, besieged by creatures, but it is clear that Weaver’s noncommissioned officer, Ripley, is the only human to come out alive. He also saves Ripley, but ends up being killed by the Alien before they can escape – thanks in part to Parker.
At the 2003 Toronto Film Festival, Kotto praised Foreigner and director Ridley Scott for introducing a black man and woman in heroic roles, and also shared a film anecdote about a visit to the place in Washington DC where he saw Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. While he was with his daughter at the historic site, a group of Japanese tourists approached him. Kotto understood only one word: “Alien”.
Watch Kotto tell the story below.