Behind cinema's most terrifying monster was a 6ft 7inch Nigerian art student discovered by chance in a London pub. Bolaji Badejo became the face audiences never saw in 1979's Alien - the lanky frame that brought HR Giger's nightmarish creation to life.
Tragically, Badejo died in December 1992 at age 39 from sickle cell anaemia, a genetic condition he battled throughout his life. He never lived to see the franchise's full expansion or its latest acclaimed incarnation now streaming on Disney+.
Chance discovery in Soho
Director Ridley Scott's casting director Peter Archer spotted Badejo in a Soho pub after struggling to find the right physique for the role. "We started with a stunt man who was quite thin, but in the rubber suit he looked like the Michelin Man," Scott recalled in 2008.
"So my casting director said, 'I've seen a guy in a pub in Soho who is about seven feet tall, has a tiny head and a tiny skinny body.' So he brought Bolaji Badejo to the office," Scott explained.
Technical mastery behind the terror
The $250,000 latex suit designed by surrealist artist HR Giger required Badejo's unique proportions to achieve its otherworldly menace. Special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi created the mechanical head system that brought the creature's movements to life.
Badejo prepared through Tai Chi and mime classes to master the alien's distinctive gliding movement. The infamous slime dripping from the creature's mouth was created using thousands of tubes of K-Y Jelly spread across the suit's face.
"I could barely see what was going on around me, except when I was in a stationary position while they were filming," Badejo told Cinefantastique magazine in 1979. "Then there were a few holes I could look through."
Cast overwhelmed by presence
Scott deliberately kept Badejo separate from the cast during breaks to maintain the creature's impact. "When it came to seeing him as this creature during a scene, it was electrifying," Sigourney Weaver revealed in 2010.
Veronica Cartwright, who portrayed crew member Lambert, vividly remembered her character's attack scene. "Believe me, when he comes after me in that scene I didn't have to do anything," she said in 2013.
"I just looked at him and, the thing was, once he uncoiled he just stood there. And I just had to look at him, and you go, 'oh s***'. And instinctively what he did was just amazing. He had this incredible presence," Cartwright added.
Brief life after stardom
Badejo went on to establish an art gallery and raised two children, Bibi and Yinka, with his wife. His sickle cell anaemia condition began affecting him more severely in the late 1980s.
He was taken to St Stephen Hospital in Lagos where he died in December 1992, just months after his 39th birthday. Badejo never witnessed the franchise's massive expansion that followed.
New series continues legacy
The Alien legacy reaches new heights with Alien: Earth, created by Noah Hawley and now streaming on Disney+. The series is set in 2120 - two years before the original film's events.
The show depicts the aftermath of a deep space vessel crash-landing on Earth with an alien aboard. It stars Sydney Chandler as lead character Wendy, alongside Timothy Olyphant and Alex Lawther.
"By bringing the story to Earth, we're shifting to, 'can humanity itself survive, right?'" Hawley told Reuters. "And then it becomes a question of, 'well, what is humanity, and do we really deserve to survive?'"
Sources used: "PA Media", "Daily Mail", "The i" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
