Sigourney Weaverisveryprotective of Grogu.
The actress and sci-fi icon presented the Academy Award for Best Production Design alongside herMandalorian and GrogucostarPedro Pascalat theOscarson Sunday — and shared a jokingly tense interaction withKate Hudsonand Grogu from the Dolby Theatre stage.
"Production designers possess a special kind of movie magic that happens long before the cameras roll," Weaver began. "It begins with a sketch, a texture, a doorway, and suddenly, an entire world exists."
Pascal added, "Cities, palaces, entire galaxies."
Weaver responded, "Sometimes even alien worlds that our characters live in."
"You've had some experience with those," Pascal said to theAlienandAvatarstar.
"A little," she joked in response. "The good, the bad, and the downright adorable!"
Weaver then blew a kiss to an unseen member of the audience before the camera revealed that it was Grogu (a.k.a. Baby Yoda) himself.
Grogu, who appeared to be a puppet or animatronic, was playfully interacting with his seatmate Hudson, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work inSong Sung Blue.
Weaver invoked her most famous line fromAliensupon seeing Grogu give Hudson a smidge of attention: "Get away from him, you bitch!"
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That aggressive demand was a callback to the climax of James Cameron'sAliens, wherein Weaver's character, Ripley, demands that the alien queen leave young Newt (Carrie Henn) alone. (The original line is "Get away from her, you bitch!")
Pascal was impressed by Weaver slipping back intoAliensmode.
"Wow, good character recall," he said. "I peed myself a little."
"It's my soft maternal instinct," she responded.
Pascal apologized on behalf of his co-prosenter. "I'm sorry, Kate," he said.
But Weaver remained resolute. "Kate: I stand by it," she threatened.
The duo then presented the production design award to Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau for their work on Guillermo del Toro'sFrankenstein.
Weaver and Pascal also presented the award for Best Visual Effects, which went toAvatar: Fire and Ash— the blockbuster in which Weaver played both Na'vi teenager Kiri and the spirit of human scientist Grace Augustine.
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Pascal will reprise his role as Din Djarin inThe Mandalorian and Grogu. The film is a continuation of theStar WarsDisney+ seriesThe Mandalorian. The movie will also see Weaver foray into theStar Warsuniverse for the first time. She's set to play Ward, a military leader for the New Republic.
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