Bolaji Badejo (23 August 1953 – 22 December 1992) was a Nigerian visual artist
and actor. He was known for playing the
Alien in
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
's 1979 film ''
Alien''.
He was tall,
a height which convinced Scott to cast him in the role. It is his sole acting credit.
Life and career
Born in
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, Badejo was of
Yoruba descent and was the son of the director general of the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.
He studied in Ethiopia, then in the United States before finally moving to London to specialize in graphic design.
Badejo was discovered in a
Soho
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
pub by a member of director
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
's casting team, who had been searching for a candidate to play the
titular creature in his
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
''Alien''. Standing at 6 ft 10 inches in height,
he was chosen to play the part due to his height and "very long legs". He was described as "mild-mannered" and "withdrawn" on set, and special effects supervisor
Nick Allder
Nick Allder is an English special effects supervisor and coordinator. He started his career as an assistant camera operator and moved, after eight years, into special effects. He has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best Visu ...
said "To have been the center of attraction… it was a bit of a shock to him."
''Alien'' was released in 1979 to significant critical and commercial success,
and ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
...
'' wrote in a retrospective review that he "effectively brought the Xenomorph to life ... Badejo certainly helped make the creature one of the most recognizable monsters in horror."
The success of ''Alien'' spawned the
''Alien'' franchise. Badejo was offered a role in a sequel,
but moved back to Nigeria in 1980; this led to the sequels incorporating more puppetry and animation alongside several suit performers. ''Alien'' is his sole film credit.
After his return to Nigeria, Badejo began running his own art gallery in 1983.
He died from
sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited Hemoglobinopathy, haemoglobin-related blood disorders. The most common type is known as sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia results in an abnormality in the ...
at the age of 39 in 1992.
Filmography
See also
*
Creature actor
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badejo, Bolaji
Nigerian male film actors
1953 births
1992 deaths
20th-century Nigerian male actors
Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Yoruba male actors
Alien (franchise)
Deaths from sickle-cell disease
People with sickle-cell disease
Male actors from Lagos
Nigerian visual effects artists