Exclusive Interview with Michael Biehn

From Kyle Reese to Cpl. Dwayne Hicks and beyond, Michael Biehn is well-known within the horror and sci-fi genres for playing memorable characters throughout his career. At the recent Crypticon Minneapolis, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Biehn about potentially reprising his role as Hicks in a new Alien film, the intense shoot of The Divide, and more.

Through his concept art, Neill Blomkamp has shown interest in bringing back Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in a new Alien film. Despite the project recently being put on the back burner, what are your thoughts on the potential new film and possibly reprising your role as Hicks?

Michael Biehn: My guess is they would bring back Hicks, and Newt is now going to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven [and be played by] some hot, young actress who can really tear it up. I'm guessing Sigourney [Weaver] will pass the mantle to the younger woman and the Alien franchise—which is really in the toilet right now—will re-emerge. [Neill] Blomkamp's a brilliant guy. The first time I saw District 9 I was stuck to the back of my chair saying, "Who is this guy?"

We'll see what happens with it, but if he's going to be in a movie I want him to be the Hicks that I want him to be. I don't want him to go out like they said he went out in the other one [Alien 3]. I like the way James Cameron kills off his heroes.

One of my favorite apocalyptic films is Xavier Gens' The Divide, an unrelenting, claustrophobic look at bunker mentality. Was that one of the most intense filming experiences of your career?

Michael Biehn: Yes, it was. I've been in a lot of intense movies. I've worked with Billy Friedkin twice—he's a pretty intense guy. [James] Cameron's pretty intense. Michael Bay and Val Kilmer are pretty intense. If you really care about something, you're really passionate about it, but with The Divide, Xavier [Gens] basically gave us two weeks before we started shooting it to do improvs and to re-write and change things, and we did.

When he found something interesting that was changed or re-written, he would just follow that storyline and sometimes it would infringe on other characters, so the cast members were at odds with each other and really, really, really close to fisticuffs. Not me, because I was my own guy in that movie, but those groups—the way they are in that movie—they hated each other to the point where they had to be separated on that movie.

There was a very violent feel to that movie. We shot every day and it's the only movie that I've ever shot in sequence. Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six. They don't shoot movies like that. We were in one location, so we shot it that way. It was an incredibly intense movie. We'd go back to the hotel and this side would be getting tension and I was kind of in the middle. I'm usually the guy that's always intense and I was trying to calm people down. It was a very intense mood on that set created by Xavier on purpose, I believe.

What projects do you have on deck at Blanc Biehn Productions that you can tease for our readers?

Michael Biehn: We have a movie called Treachery which is out and you can buy—a little grindhouse movie shot for nothing, really, which is a lot like The Victim but not as sensationalized, a little bit more of a drama. And then we have The Night Visitor and The Night Visitor 2, which has been sold to Anchor Bay but not been released yet.

We've got about five films now that are in the process of being finished. Right now I'm working on one called The Lincoln, which is about a woman driving a Lincoln around and her son has been kidnapped, so she's been told that she needs to do certain things or her son's going to be killed.

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To learn more about Crypticon Minneapolis and to keep an eye out for future announcements regarding next year's event, visit:

• http://crypticonminneapolis.com/