Sigourney Weaver has called for more women on screen to be portrayed "as interesting as women really are".

The 73-year-old Hollywood legend feels "lucky" she got to play warrant officer Ellen Ripley in Sir Ridley Scott's 1979 Oscar-winning sci-fi horror classic 'Alien' because she could play a strong female and didn't have to "look a certain way" like a lot of female stars have to in film.

Speaking to Parade magazine about more women killing it on the screen, she said: "Well, I think we've always had heroines like that.

Even the movies of the 30s, 40s, and 50s had Bette Davis. No one was going to help her [so she helped herself].

I [feel| I was very lucky to get to play Ripley as a person: I didn't have to worry about looking a certain way: I got to live that life as that character who was sort of an every-man character. She managed to survive because of her character. No one else was going to help her.

"So, I hope it was helpful, but I think it took a long time for the business to change so that normal women, not in space, could also be portrayed for the strength they have, the resilience they have, and the independence they have. There are so many different kinds of women and most are not portrayed on screen to be as interesting as women really are, as capable. as diverse, and as incredible."

She added: "To me, women are the ones who are keeping the planet together. I just reflect what I see, but I'm really thrilled that I got to play a part like Ripley. I felt it was my 'Henry V', because there weren't roles like that for women in theatre or in film. So, I was extremely lucky to work with Walter Hill, David Giler and Ridley Scott, and be able to just tell the truth about Ripley."

The 'Avatar' star reprised her role in James Cameron's 1986 'Aliens' film, for which she received her first Academy Award nomination, and again in 1992's 'Alien 3' and 1997's 'Alien Resurrection'.