Here we go again! To your delight, and ours, we’re back at Montreal’s Comiccon in 2023. Following the same genre exploration as last year’s conferences, the planning committee decided to select two stars that also took part in the James Cameron sci-fi universe like Robert Patrick did. We’re talking of two 80s action stars that are still at it today: Michael Biehn (66 years old) and Lance Henriksen (83 years old). To break the ice, the moderator of the discussion revealed to us that Biehn and Henriksen were “scary-looking” when they first arrived backstage. I’ll make a quick speculation myself: both men have strong personalities…and it showed on stage. As Biehn’s kept the discussion on his biggest movies, Henriksen went in different directions, discussing the actor’s profession and also director James Cameron as an individual.

Famously, their most popular movie where they appeared together on screen is undoubtedly Aliens (1986), the sequel to Ridley Scott’s space horror masterpiece directed by (of course) James Cameron. Needless to say, the crowd attending the Q&A surely knew that because the discussion was ENTIRELY on this movie…or close enough. Let’s dig in, as we go back to 1986 on the set of one of the best sequels of all time.

First of all, before the Q&A started, both gentlemen discussed what it is to be an actor globe-trotting to different locations for shoots and to promote their work. Biehn referred to people of his profession as a “tribe of workers”, who are always on the move and most probably too busy to keep in touch with other actors they have worked with through the years (which makes total sense, let’s be honest). Both stars agreed that movies like Aliens and The Terminator can be identified as “old school” science fiction, and they were lucky to be a part of it. Fair to say, although good sci-fi is still made nowadays (we can think about Blade Runner 2049 or TV series like Foundation or Raised by Wolves), Aliens belongs in a time where sci-fi was pure and fresh. Hell, Biehn even admitted that if Aliens was released today, just as it was, it would still look great and not out of time. His point was that the work by Stan Winston with Alien prosthetics and practical effects still looks marvelous, and I couldn’t agree with him more. At a time when the overabundance of CGI begins to be too noticeable and somehow degrading (we have The Flash in mind), we miss the good old practical effects of that era. Too costly maybe, sure…but necessary.

What is surprising is that the first question was not about them or the famous movies they appeared in, it was about a deceased co-star: Bill Paxton (who passed away in 2017). Again, this great actor was also a favourite of James Cameron and he too appeared in both The Terminator and Aliens. However deep the discussion went, Lance told us that Paxton was full of ideas and constantly working on new projects when they knew him in the 80s and 90s. Paxton worked so hard all the time, he was in so many movies, it’s admirable. Michael Biehn worked with him on five different projects, including Aliens, The Terminator, The Lords of Discipline, Navy Seals and Tombstone. Every time, Paxton was full of energy and he conquered the room instantly. Both Lance and Michael agreed that Paxton was a bit like his character, Private Hudson, in Aliens: chatty and excentric (but not a coward). Finally, Biehn told us that he owes a lot to Paxton, considering that he was the one to introduce him to James Cameron in the first place. A nice sentiment, albeit tragic, is that working as an actor means you only get to see your friends every four or five years, so Biehn hadn’t seen his friend in a few years by the nature of their work.

Rapidly and vaguely discussing his character of Bishop the Android, Henriksen mentioned that Cameron is a perfectionist director who rarely compliments his actors and crew members. However, in his case, Cameron praised Henriksen for how he portrayed the Android as he gave him a charismatic personality. On the topic of artificial intelligence, the actor was asked if he could see a character like Bishop come back in future movies and franchises, to which he answered that Bishop is an artifact of the past and should better be left there. Modern A.I. manifestations wouldn’t look like Bishop today, which was somewhat of a cold answer to us fans, but still made sense. As for Biehn, he revealed that he actually landed the role of Hix later during production after they decided to replace the previous actor in the role. This character had a small number of lines, which was quite easy for Biehn to work with on such short notice, but he also admired the relationship that his character had with Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Although not a romance, he qualified their chemistry as a ‘like’ relationship, and Hix recognized that Ripley knew more about the threat of the Xenomorphs than anybody else on the crew. Probably the most feminist soldier in the whole bunch in Aliens.

Asked about his favourite characters and work, Michael Biehn still believes to this day that Aliens remains the best movie he ever worked on! Quite something for a guy who has 112 acting credits to his name. However, his favourite protagonist remains Kyle Reese from The Terminator and his favourite antagonist is Johnny Rango from Tombstone (1995). Both men agreed that they were at the right place at the right time to have the chance to star in this sci-fi classic, and they seem very grateful for that.

Here’s a scene where both Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen (and Bill Paxton as a matter of fact) appeared together in James Cameron’s Aliens:

So yeah, Aliens was the main topic of discussion, but both Biehn and Henriksen were in another James Cameron classic prior to that and it wasn’t even brought up once during the Q&A! In The Terminator (1984), Biehn had the second protagonist role as Kyle Reese (the soldier who was sent back through time to save Sarah Connor from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator), while Henriksen had a minor role as a police detective tasked with investigating the Terminator’s killings. There was one question regarding Biehn’s work in this movie, and that was regarding his collaboration with co-star Linda Hamilton, who played the main protagonist of the franchise: Sarah Connor. Of course, as all stars would, he only had good things to say about her and that they had great playful chemistry. He also took the liberty to praise Cameron for his ability to create strong and capable female heroes in Hollywood, which remain influential and popular references to this day.

To conclude the discussion on a topic a bit out of scope, Henriksen recalled working with Cameron on his very first motion picture (a total flop), Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), where he played the police chief. At that time, Cameron’s crew had no money for the costume department while filming in Jamaica, so Henriksen had to buy all his clothes directly on-site from local shops, and no money for stuntmen either, resulting in big injuries on his end. Of course, Cameron had a modest start, but where he is now is an entirely different ball game. Henriksen concluded the Q&A with a reference to the Titan submersible tragedy near the wreck of the Titanic, considering that Cameron was another brave soul who decided to dive into the deepest oceanic trench in the world: the Mariana Trench. Although Henriksen was asked by Cameron if he was claustrophobic before filming a scene in Aliens, the actor humbly said that Cameron was the bravest of all for accepting to stay in a confined space at the very bottom of the sea for so long and in complete isolation.

Both men agreed that to be part of a James Cameron project is to accept the director’s ideas and vision, which are wild! But that’s why all his movies work so well, from Terminator 2 and Titanic, all the way to Avatar: The Way of Water.

Fun fact: I was too shy to go to the mic to mention this, but most fans forget that Bill Paxton is not the only actor to have the ‘honour’ to have been killed by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator! As a matter of fact, Henriksen can also add this to his bucket list, he too got killed during the T-800 shoutout scene in The Terminator, he was almost entirely dismembered by the Alien queen in Aliens and a Predator stabbed him in the heart in the first Alien vs. Predator (see what I mean below). I bet you didn’t know that!