Noomi Rapace's Best Prometheus Memory Was A Piece Of Advice From Ridley Scott

Actor Noomi Rapace burst onto the international film scene as the punk rock hacker Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," based on the posthumously published bestseller from author Stieg Larsson. Her performance put her on the shortlist to star as devout archaeologist Dr. Shaw in Ridley Scott's long-gestating "Alien" prequel, "Prometheus." Rapace reportedly beat out Carey Mulligan and Natalie Portman for the role, garnering full support from Scott to make the part hers, despite competition from some of the most notable actors in Hollywood.

In "Prometheus," Scott wanted to make a film that had connective tissue to his original 1979 blue-collar space slasher, but avoids being a generic retread featuring an unstoppable Xenomorph. The seeds of "Prometheus" began as a prequel to answer some of the mysteries discovered on the planet LV-426 by the crew of the Nostromo. Instead, the origins of the space jockey, for example, wound up being a springboard to much bigger ideas about creation and artificial intelligence. Scott told Deadline, "While 'Alien' was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place." 

The grand ambition of the epic prequel may have featured too many ideas for Scott to properly reel in, but Rapace still has "amazing memories" of making "Prometheus" and fondly remembers the support she was shown by the legendary sci-fi director. "From the very first meeting we had, he said, 'Don't change. Just be you. You have nothing to prove. I've chosen you. You don't even need to audition,'" she told Looper, reflecting on the experience almost 10 years later. As it turns out, Scott gave Rapace some lasting advice that has stayed with her over the years since the two worked together. 

In the face of such big ideas, it was crucial for Noomi Rapace to stay grounded within a complex story during what proved to be a very physically demanding shoot. Sometimes, even the simplest words of guidance can help a performer find some level of authenticity in a rich, design-heavy, fictional world like the one found in "Prometheus." Sharing a profound moment she had with Ridley Scott, Rapace revealed the sound advice she received in the midst of filming (per Looper):

"He just took me on board and said, 'I want you to be you, be faithful to yourself.' That was something I had with me throughout that journey and everything I do, to not lose myself. And I feel like, even when we were shooting out in the most kind of brutal environment in Iceland on 'Prometheus,' and I'm like this little creature against nature — it was a tough shoot — I had his voice always echoing in me. 'Just be you, be faithful to you. Don't change.'"

The epic scale of "Prometheus" may have been too overwhelming at times for all of the actors, including Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, and Idris Elba. Understandably, that vote of confidence has echoed through Rapace's career and probably came at an opportune time, considering "Prometheus" was one of the first big-budget projects she had ever been involved with. Rapace has gone on to give moving, relatable performances even when she's tasked with fighting an alien in "Prometheus" or nurturing a fantastical creature in last year's Icelandic horror folktale "Lamb." It sounds like she continues to use Scott's early support as a steadying force almost 10 years on. "That was a great source to always find strength and to not lose yourself."

There are many different ways of interpreting "Prometheus." On a surface level, the film has harrowing creature moments and bone-breaking encounters with the slimy, hatching eggs fans recognize from the original "Alien" films. There are also plenty of scenes where the movie's scientists make rather ill-advised decisions, allowing the film to combine horror clichés with complicated, existential concepts about the origins of life.

The mystery of the space jockey (the giant, petrified alien carcass from "Alien") is a doorway into the mysterious technology wielded by the ancient race known as the Engineers, providing a path that leads to another thread challenging biblical dogma. That thread makes Dr. Shaw start to question everything. Another matter Ridley Scott seems very interested in is David (Michael Fassbender), the conniving android who attempts to engineer a new species of Xenomorphs. David is willing to sacrifice everything, even the human race, to achieve his goal. His devious plans wind up leading to an obsession with Dr. Shaw (one that's expanded upon in the sequel, "Alien: Covenant").

Alternatively, one can interpret "Prometheus," much like "Alien," as a work of social commentary about abortion and the fear of pregnancy. (The fact that Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley is the lone survivor in "Alien" only further supports that reading.) This fear of becoming an unwillingly surrogate is examined even further in the extended cut of James Cameron's "Aliens." 

The most challenging scene in "Prometheus" sees Shaw having to literally remove an alien fetus from her body, once again driving that deep-seated fear home. While the sequence is almost too visceral, making the implications overly obvious for the sake of being scary, Shaw becomes a fighter at that moment. One only hopes Noomi Rapace leaned especially hard on Ridley Scott's advice to get her through filming that particular scene.