‘Alien’ Star Reveals Just How Real Their Reactions Were to the Chestburster Scene

The following article contains spoilers for 1979’s Alien.Veronica Cartwright, the actor known for her role as Lambert in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic Alien, has confirmed something about the chestburster scene that has always been discussed by those who participated in the film: the shock by the actors during the scene was very authentic, because they did not know firsthand how everything would happen.

Although she’s not widely recognized as a horror icon, Cartwright is a veteran in the genre. When she was a teenager, she starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and later appeared in horror films like 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Witches of Eastwick. However, it was her role as Joan Lambert in Alien that made her a scream queen, even though her character met her demise in the sci-fi horror movie.

In the film, an intergalactic space crew responds to a distress call coming from an unknown planet. When the spaceship lands, a group goes to explore what seems like an abandoned alien ship. Kane (John Hurt) approaches an egg-like object, from where a creature jumps out and takes him as a host. The scene in question is Kane’s death, one that was a full surprise and one of the most legendary scenes in film. Not only for viewers but, according to Cartwright, for the cast as well.

Cartwright was on Aliens star Michael Biehn’s podcast, Just Foolin About with Michael Biehn, to talk about Alien. The actor addressed how the scene was made, and she shared a few details about their surprise when blood started spurting out of Hurt’s body. Lambert is one of the few who’s visibly shaken by the event, and perhaps that’s why Scott decided to leave the shot where she’s seen in absolute panic. This is what Cartwright said:

“What happened was we were put up into our dressing rooms for hours. It was just ridiculous; we were up there like four hours, and Harry Dean [Stanton] was playing his guitar, and we’re all going, ‘what the hell is going on?’ Then they broke for lunch, and we’re all eating lunch up there, and then, finally, they call us down. The entire set was dressed in plastic. The stench was unbelievable, because it was all in formaldehyde.”

How Ridley Scott Accomplished the Scene’s Memorable Authenticity

Cartwright then reveals that they knew what was coming. It was in the script. But it was the setup that they weren’t prepared for. The actress eventually started to feel sick: “I started to gag, as I walked through the thing, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, what is going on here?'”

“So, there were four cameras, so it covered each one of us. Because it was only one take. So, we started to do the beast coming through the chest, and all of a sudden, Ridley shouts ‘cut!’ and everybody runs in, and they cut the chest a little bit more because the T-shirt wasn’t cut enough. But of course, that built up the anxiety.

I was just so damn fascinated by looking at it. I had no idea there was going to be a blood jet, and I went straight into that blood jet, and it hit me square in the face, hence ‘Oh, my God!’ And then I backed up, and my knees hit this banquette that was there, and I flipped upside down, and there were two cowboy boots sticking up. I thought, ‘Oh, my God, they’re still rolling,’ and I rolled over, and I ran back into the scene. It was so ridiculous.”

‘Alien’s Chestburster Scene is One of the Most Shocking Moments in 1970s Horror

Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi horror film from 1979 was a first in many respects. Space horror was still a subgenre that hadn’t played with the idea of mixing in creatures from another world, but that wasn’t the only innovative aspect of the film. The director also decided to break a few rules and kill a major character in the first half of the film, à la Hitchcock with Psycho.

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However, Scott not only got rid of Hurt’s Kane, the director went with a gruesome kill that marked a tone that would be essential for the entire franchise. Kane’s death was messy, extremely gory and chaotic. It completely set the mood, but what everyone saw was a tiny creature that had left a hole in the victim’s chest and had run off. No one imagined that it would grow into a relentless movie villain that convinced everyone that perhaps space wasn’t so cool after all.

Alien

Runtime

117 minutes

Writers

Dan O’Bannon

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