Leading from
a) Looking for a way for Henriksen's return
Discussions about Lance Henriksen returning to the Alien franchise had taken place as Bishop the android. There was a script by William Gibson in which he has been repaired after being ripped in two by the Alien Queen from Aliens, and is now main character but by the time of Alien 3, he had physically aged a lot so it was almost out of the question. However there was another way to bring him back, although briefly as another character labeled as Bishop II in the final script mostly written by Walter Hill and David Giler.
b) Invitation for a short visit, a coffee and a doughnut
Walter Hill talked to Lance Henriksen, saying "Look Lance, why don't you go do this movie, go to London, have a cup of coffee and a doughnut and come home; we just want you to be in it"
Lance felt that he was being asked nicely and couldn't say no. What started out as an invitation for a short visit soon turned into a month. However he felt that the only he was asked to do the picture was for product recognition and his character would have drawn fans in who recognised him from the original Alien. He wouldn't be used again this way. He also felt that if the part didn't work, he would quit acting.
c) The nature of the confusion
Bishop 2 was a threadbare character, and was supposed to be a company employee who was the man who built Bishop from Aliens. He turns up as a friendly face to ask Ripley to give them the queen chestburster that she has inside her. After he is hit by one of the employees of the prison around the back of his head, the side of his face is hanging open and blood pumping out from his skull. A scene that should have resulted in Bishop 2 being killed soon transforms into a scene where he seems unaffected by the injury as he calls out to Ripley to not kill herself. Many audience members asked the question from then about whether he was an android or a human. Lance Henriksen doesn't claim to have the answer but he thought that it was all up in the air when they were making the film, that they weren't sure and they wanted to leave doubt. He stated that they came up with the scene where he gets hit on the back of the head with a pipe very late on. And since they had not prepared for it, they cobbled together a prosthetic appliance for the flap like injury that had Jack Nicholson's ear left over from the Batman movie a few years before, instead of his own
d) Another point of confusion
Above this confusion was the fact that David Fincher revealed later in 1996 that in his original story for Alien 3 he told the studios that got him the job, he mentioned that there were three Lance Henriksen's running around. In light of what we got where we discover that what we assumed first was another robot is revealed to be a human being and then the closer we inspect the injury, many people are left confused about which it should be. What idea did David Fincher have in mind amidst the confusion?
e) Cameron's 'Is he or isn't he" situation
Lance Henriksen talked about the confusion in an interview with Total Film in 2004 about how it was the same with Jim Cameron when he talked about doing another Alien movie, pondering on the idea of what he might do to Bishop, saying that maybe somebody messed with his brain to make him dangerous and in 2010 he added that Cameron had the idea that Bishop was aware that someone had fooled around with his brain and was constantly worried that he would do something dangerous, so it was an 'is he or is he not' situation, and Henriksen liked this as a piece of conflict.
Source Quotes
- David Fincher: The story I told them, that got me the job, was cool. It was a fucking David Lean movie. It wasn't about tough guys in outer space, it was about paedophiles in outer space. It was a huge movie and it was very complicated and political. There were three Lance Henriksens running around, Paul McGann was a serial killer, and at the end of the movie you had the alien running around and you've got 3,000 stormtroopers on their way. It was a massive and strange idea that was great. I went 'They gave me the work, so they're going to let me make this movie.' Then it was like, ' We can't do that, we can only have eighteen guys show up at the end. ' And so at a certain point they cut the fucking balls of the thing. (Empire, p85, Seventh Hell, February 1996)
- David Fincher: There was a whole section where they actually cut three minutes out of the end sequences when Bishop comes and presents his case. I always wanted it to play like she listens to him and is really tempted by it. Originally that scene played out much longer and there was a 40 second pause from the time he said "Please trust us" and she made this decision and then she finally looked up at him and said "No" (Imagi Movies vol 1 #1)
- Lance Henriksen: I remember Walter Hill saying "Lance, why don't you go do this movie, go to London, have a cup of coffee and a doughnut and come home: we just want you to be in it." Then it turned out to be a month... The original script had it as a monk's planet which would have been awful. Then it turned into an prison planet (Total Film, November 2004, p102, Fright Club (month?) 2004)
- Lance Henriksen: Actually, that's only part true. Or maybe it's more than part true. Oh you know what I mean. I get to play what's left of Bishop, ans I play Bishop II, his human creator. (Starlog/July/1992, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: After I finished ALIENS, and it came out and was a big hit, they wanted me to sign up to do III and IV. I wouldn't do it. Without scripts, everything is in someone else's court. I had not choice in the matter once I say yes. So honestly I wasn't sure I would even be in Alien 3. (Starlog/July/1992, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: There were five scripts done. I would be written in, then written out. In one, Bishop was an enormous character. So I never knew(Starlog/July/1992, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: I was really disappointed in a way. Walter Hill called me up and said "Look, Lance, just go and do it, have a cup of coffee and come home." They needed me for a reason, a dramatic reason. Besides, I wouldn't say 'No, the role is too small for me.' It wasn't a matter of that. All of the sentiment about Bishop is there. The key scene with Sigourney is really good, beautifully written, and the way they shot it is unbelievable. So it's a small role, I'm very proud of it. (Starlog/July/1992, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: It's hard to tell, Bishop II gets clobbered on the head with a piece of steel. It almost takes my ear off. It opens the side of my head up, but I don't die. They think I'm an android and they realize after they clobber me that I'm not an android. I'm a person, the guy who created Bishop. (Starlog/July/1992, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: Judging from having done it, I would say Bishop is much more humane than his creator. When I did Aliens, I found a humanity in playing that role. All I could work on was Bishop's humanity. For him anything that's alive was really magnificent. He's like a misunderstood 14 year old. (Starlog/July/1992, p47)
- Lance Henriksen: Bishop II genuinely wants to save her, and the story changes really helped Alien 3, The part grew while the material was being developed, yet Bishop's fate was always in the hands of the gods. I'd read the scripts where he was a star and others that had Bishop walking through. I never knew if he would survive until the final draft. (Fangoria, #?)
- Lance Henriksen: They asked me really nicely, and I couldn't say no. So now I just have to live with it. (Aliens, Vol 2, Number 22, 1994,"Regarding Henriks" by David Hughes, p46)
- David Hughes: Nevertheless, Henriksen feels that the only reason he was asked to do the picture was for product recognition - the studio knew that his name would attract the many fans of his character from ALIENS to the second sequel - and he is determined that he "wont be used that way again."(Aliens, Vol 2, Number 22, 1994, "Regarding Henriks" by David Hughes, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: My deal with myself was, I was going to quit acting if that part didn't work.(Aliens, Vol 2, Number 22, 1994, "Regarding Henriks" by David Hughes, p46)
- Lance Henriksen: My scene with Sigourney (Weaver) was good but I wish it had been fuller and given a bit more substance. (Aliens, Vol 2, Number 22, "Regarding Henriks" by David Hughes, p46)
- David Hughes: In Alien 3, fans are still unsure whether "Bishop 2", the company man sent to dissuade Ripley from suicide, was on the level or not and don't even seem to agree whether or not he was playing an android or a human! (Aliens, Vol 2, Number 22, 1994 "Regarding Henriks" by David Hughes, p48)
- Lance Henriksen: When I worked on Alien 3, it was up in the air as to what Bishop was. Was he an android or a human. Nobody knew. It was the same with Jim Cameron, when he was talking about doing another Alien movie. He often pondered about what he might do with Bishop, saying that somehow they messed with his brain to make him dangerous. or not."(Total Film, p102, Fright Club , (month?) 2004)
- Lance Henriksen: I also remember Jim saying to me, if we ever did another one that what he would have done is probably had that character realize that somebody had fooled around with his brain and make him constantly worried that he was going to do something dangerous. And so I thought, well, what a nice piece of conflict that is. (www.everyjoe.com 2010 01 01)
- Lance Henriksen: There was some confusion at the moment of execution, makeup found an ear from Jack Nicholson, left after his batman appearance, and used it on the flap of the skin wound, I think the unresolved questions adds to the entertainment, is he or is he not, Fincher was content with the issue. ( Lance Henriksen's Facebook page, 27th October, 2010)
- Lance Henriksen: Lorsque Walter Hill m’a proposé de reprendre du service dans Alien3, le déception a été grande de m’aprecevoir que je n’avais que quelques minutes à l’écran. Walter m’a contacté pour me dire : “Allez Lance, pointe-toi, fais-le, prends un café et rentre chez toi, fais-le, prends un café et rentre chez toi“. Il avait besoin de moi pour une séquence bien précise, une scène capitale. Bien sûr, je ne pouvais pas refuser en prétextant la modestie de mon apparition. Maintenant, je suis fier de la scène. En fait, j’incarne l’homme qui a créé Bishop, à son image, un type en fait bien moins humains que sa créature (Google translation: When Walter Hill asked me to resume service in Alien3, the disappointment was great to realize that I had only a few minutes on the screen. Walter contacted me to tell me: "Go Lance, tip up, do it, get a coffee and go home, do it, get a coffee and go home." He needed me to a specific sequence, a key scene. Of course I could not refuse, claiming the modesty of my appearance. Now, I am proud of the scene. In fact, I play the man who created Bishop, in his image, a guy actually much less human than his creature) (Ecran Fantastique, # 126 p31)
- Lance Henriksen: They weren't sure, they wanted to leave a doubt, and they came up with a scene where I get hit on the head with the pipe very late on. They hadn't prepared for it, and the make-up is actually a Jack Nicholson left ear left over from a Batman shoot. He's got a lot smaller ear than I do. (Empire, November 2009, p116)
