Susan Sarandon or Sigourney Weaver

Who was the bigger talented actress?

Please be objective and try not to factor in recent politics. I need to settle a debate with a friend.

One Susan is just as bad as the other.

Weaver can do comedy and drama. Sarandon can only do drama.

R2, to be fair, she was fantastic in Bull Durham.

Sigourney is definitely more talented. Susan is a good actress but really nothing special.

Actually, I’d say it’s the best performance of her career.

Hey! Are Susans from TV not eligible?

R3 Ok I still need to watch that.

Sigourney, although neither has had a great movie in nearly 20 years. Sarandon was great in Feud though. I think the last thing I saw Sigourney in that I enjoyed was Heartbreakers.

Favorite Sarandon movies: Thelma & Louise, Dead Man Walking, Rocky Horror

Favorite Weaver movies: Alien, Ghostbusters, Aliens, Working Girl, Galaxy Quest, The Ice Storm, Copycat, The Year of Living Dangerously, Death and the Maiden, Heartbreakers, Prayers for Bobby, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Imaginary Heroes

I'll add Gorillas in the Mist to R9's Sigourney list.

I do like Sarandon, but Sigourney has had the more interesting, varied movie career. Why hasn't she gotten an Oscar again?

R10 Oooh I know what I'm gonna watch tomorrow! Thanks!

Sarandon was decent in Feud, but for the last decade she and Lily Tomlin have been trading the same role back and forth.

Susan Sarandon didn't sound like Bette Davis in "Feud."

Maybe it wasn't a huge acting stretch, but I loved Sigourney Weaver in "Working Girl."

I think Sarandon has the greater range. Sig seems stiff in everything she does.

Sigourney was MASTERFUL in Prayers for Bobby. If that had been a studio film, she'd have an Oscar for that film.

R18 I saw that and she’s never been convincing in drama for me. I love her much more than Sarandon, but she can never play vulnerable; I definitely think Sarandon is the better and more versatile actress (and since we were asked to leave personalities aside...)

Sarandon could never have carried a film franchise the way Weaver did. Weaver's Ripley practically invented several genres!

Susan Sarandon is a fantastic actress. I agree that Weaver is stiff in everything she does.

Wow, Sarandon debut sounds really harsh! Never saw or heard of this before.

Joe was a big sleeper hit with no stars. It's worth seeing, but not a great movie. A weird combination of Easy Rider and All in the Family. Sarandon's role is tiny.

R20 what in heck does that have to do with great acting?

They’re both bad ass bitches and have a bunch of great movies under their belts but Sigourney for the win

Who did you bet on OP?

I disagree that Weaver is stiff or cannot play vulnerable.

Aliens, which is her greatest performance, shows a lot of vulnerability in addition to the heroic aspects. The (deleted) scene of Ripley learning her daughter died while she was languishing in space is heartbreaking and showed a more tender and vulnerable side of Ripley.

Also A Map of the World showed this too. And she's great at comedy (Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest).

Despite her politics, I loved Sarandon in the '80s. Bull Durham is one of her best performances, as is White Palace a year later. And personally I thought she outshined both Cher and Michelle Pfeiffer in Witches of Eastwick. Shocking she wasn't nominated for an Oscar for all three films. She really excelled at playing sexually liberated women of a certain age.

I love them both, but feel Weaver is the more formidable presence.

Say what you want about me but I just watched this clip of Sigourney in Prayers for Bobby and it made me scream cry.

side note: When I came out way back in 2001 I gave my parents the book PFB and asked them to read it. Instead I found the book in the trash before they beat the crap out of me and kicked me out. Things are “better” now but finding the book in the garbage really symbolizes the way they still treat me in many passive aggressive ways.. so maybe that’s why I’m bawling lol

I think Barbara Hershey is half Sarandon and half Weaver.

Nobody seems to remember the great Siggy film Snowfall. She and Alan Rickman play marvellously together.

R29 And not necessarily the good halves.

R30 it was released here as Snow Cake, and Weaver is magnificent in it. Her best performance for me, and it should have done much better for her.

Still, count me as one of the others who usually finds her very stiff and stilted on screen. I hate Sarandon's politics but if i'm being honest I find her more watchable on screen. It's as if Weaver is acting on *intellect*, and Sarandon is acting on *instinct*. The transition into a character is much more seamless and natural.

I also am surprised people are saying Sigourney is more versatile... Sarandon has done comedies, dramas, biopics, musicals, Broadway, multi-camera sitcom, fantasy, action, indie, mainstream, period piece.... the list goes on.

As for who was bigger, Sigourney has definitely been in the bigger franchises (Alien, Avatar, Ghostbusters, etc.) so i'll give her the 'bigger' CV. But I would argue that Hollywood felt Sarandon was better at 'carrying' a picture. She got more vehicles, more press attention (of course she's less private than Weaver). Was nominated almost every year for Best Actress from 1990-1995, and was still a leading lady before and after.

Weaver is a screen icon. I don't understand what's the point of sullying her image by comparing her with a narcissistic cunt.

WHOEVER WROTE THIS EPISODE SHOULD DIE!

R45 She also clearly says Fuck That.

DL Fave Susie Saranwrap in a very, VERY close call.

I was Sigourney’s hair colorist for a bit, she was one classy lady. The woman that usually did her hair absolutely refused to come in on a Monday, so my boss, who styled and cut it asked me. I was nervous the first time. I had just shaved my head, so we broke the ice and laughed about that, and she talked about a film school in Africa she was supporting. I also met her daughter.

What was interesting (and I took as a wonderful compliment)- was that when the director of the color department that flew in from LA- as well as another colorist that started working Mondays was available, she requested if I could come in again instead.

[quote] the bigger talented

u readed that then be responsing?

R24 A person who is not a good performer would not be able to carry a franchise like that single handedly... especially a woman doing it for the first time in cinema.

R42 I think people are ignoring the obvious, Alien did not start as a franchise, nor did (I think) Avatar, though I don’t recall if SG’s character lived or died in that one and will be back for more.

R41 Did Debra Messing lose out in staring in a biopic about Sarandon or where does her anger stem from?

R44 A timeline of their feud

R45 So she uses her middle name of Lynn now, did not know that.

R43 That was kind of my point... If someone else had portrayed Ripley, I doubt Alien would have ever become a franchise. Franchises were kind of a new thing at the time, and there had never been one with a female lead.

never understood sarandons bitch appeal....seems like a grouchy old turd in ev thing she does

In her day Sigourney was lovelier but Susan plainly would have been better between the sheets. The two of them needed to meld.

evid that's how Sarandon got work , sure twernt from her talent.

Sarandon's bug eyes bug the hell outta me

They’re both talented, but Sigourney is bigger (in height, by about 5 or 6 inches).

Sarandon was great in the ‘80s. But in the ‘90s she went for the Oscar bait roles and was less interesting.

"Sarandon was great in Feud though"

Sarandon didn't act in that show. She didnt embody Davis - she just sounded like herself but with a slight affectation.

Weaver is definitely on the cerebral side of things, but I actually find her more compelling to watch than Sarandon. Loved her in The Ice Storm.

I agree Sarandon was better than Cher in Eastwick - but not Pfeiffer, who radiated a slightly manic sensuality and vulnerability.

Maybe its unfair to compare the two. They are so so different.

That said, I had a charming very brief conversation with Weaver in Crate and Barrel about 10 years ago. She may be patrician but she is SO earthy and gracious. I've had interactions with Sarandon and she is paranoid and unfriendly.

In the 90s at BAM Sarandon and Tim came early to a performance and hung out and chatted with all the ushers for 20 minutes before the show. They were very nice down to earth people.

R51 shes definitely had work done on them the past 20 years or so. It made her look much better.

I hear susan tips her boys gooood.

I actually feel Sarandon is probably the better actress, but Weaver has off the charts charisma.

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