Cailee Spaeny studied Sigourney Weaver to prepare for Alien: Romulus role

Cailee Spaeny had Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ripley "on repeat" to prepare for her role in 'Alien: Romulus'.

The 26-year-old star plays protagonist Rain Carradine in the new installment in the long-running sci-fi franchise and did her best to learn from her predecessor's iconic portrayal of the protagonist in the original picture.

Cailee told Total Film magazine: "I had her performance playing on repeat for months. I was sort of hoping that something would seep in."

However, the 'Priscilla' star emphasised that she was never "intimidated" by her leading lady status as a result of Sigourney's work.

Cailee said: "But I never felt intimated. That role wasn't written for a woman, so there was real freedom.

"And because Sigourney injected all of herself into it, that then opens up any other female who's entering this franchise into not ever feeling that weird weight or pressure of playing a female lead."

The new film – scheduled for release next month - takes place between the events of the 1979 movie 'Alien' and its 1982 sequel 'Aliens' and Cailee is pleased to pay homage to the defining flicks in the series.

She said: "It was so much fun to, timeline-wise, place our story between one and two.

"As a fan, you're able to connect the dots. So hopefully people can watch 'Alien', and then 'Alien: Romulus', and then 'Aliens'. And that will be a satisfying thing."

Cailee also detailed how director Fede Alvarez, who has previously helmed 'Evil Dead' and 'Don't Breathe', couldn't resist the chance to put an element of horror into the movie.

She said: "He doesn't know how to not put that spin on it.

"That is just his instinct. He's waiting to do something strange and twisted. And you know he's got it when you're right on the edge of going, 'Should we do this?' That's when you know, 'OK, Fede is in his sweet spot.'"