20 Things You Didn’t Know About Galaxy Quest
13. Sigourney Weaver Was Also Not The First Choice
The studio flat out didn’t want to cast anyone who already had a sci-fi pedigree - a fact which infuriated Weaver, because she loved the script and really wanted to work with Tim Allen and Alan Rickman.
The most famous actor interested in the movie by some margin, Weaver still couldn’t get a look in because of her prominence in the Alien franchise. Eventually, the studio capitulated and offered her the role - although the further irony was that it wasn’t even the sci-fi elements that appealed to her. The most experienced sci-fi player in the film didn’t like the genre in the slightest:
“It's funny, considering my background, but I was never into science fiction... I thought Flash Gordon was stupid… I'll watch Star Trek once in a while - look at those cheap sets! But I just felt “Galaxy Quest,” as a comedy, was such a love letter to all the insecure actors in the field who have done so many wonderful and somewhat under-appreciated projects, and even though “Star Trek” is very popular, it was very… specific.”
Weaver loved the blond wig she wore as the character Gwen DeMarco so much that she often refused to take it off at the end of the day and wore it home instead to see if "blondes have more fun after all." She ended up stealing it - and her costume - from the film at the end, and encouraged Missi Pyle to do likewise.