Sigourney Weaver laments the lack of female directors

Sigourney Weaver has revealed one of the biggest regrets about her career is not having more women to work with.

The iconic 74-year-old's career stretches back to the 1970s when she started out in theatre before breaking into film with a role in 1977's Annie Hall.

She became a breakout star playing Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror Alien in 1979 and returned to the role for three subsequent sequels.

Speaking to Deadline at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, Sigourney reflected on her career and lamented, "In my experience, one thing I'm really missing is women directors and writers. That was true for a long, long time."

Reviewing her time on the original Alien film, the star went on to recall being in awe over the way Ridley and his Director of Photography, Derek Vanlint, experimented in order to get their perfect shots.

She said, "They'd be in some crazy place and turning the camera upside down. It's fabulous to be around a group of people who are single-handedly trying to tell the best story possible. Giving all their particular skills and we just about made it."

Sigourney was in the Italian city to receive the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award.

Next year she will reprise her role as Kiri in the third Avatar film, and she has also been cast in an undisclosed role in the upcoming Star Wars film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is set for release in 2026.