Ian Holm’s Role In Alien: Romulus Explained

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Alien: Romulus!

Alien: Romulus brings back original Alien star Ian Holm, and how the Ash actor is back for the franchise is surprising. With Fede Álvarez’s movie taking place between Alien and Aliens in the franchise timeline, there was always an expectation that Alien: Romulus would hold connections to the original movie. What was not known was just how heavily connected to prior installments it really is. While Alien: Romulus‘ cast is mostly filled with new characters played by younger actors, one of the movie’s biggest surprises is Rook, an android with Ian Holm’s appearance and voice.

Rook plays a vital role in Alien: Romulus‘ story, as his module is transferred to Andy (David Jonsson), allowing his prime directive to continue. Seeing Ian Holm’s face and hearing his voice is unexpected considering the actor died in 2020. Still, the Ash performer is featured in Alien: Romulus as the only cast member from Ridley Scott’s original 1979 movie to return for the movie set 20 years later. With Ripley still missing during Alien: Romulus‘ ending, the movie got creative with Ian Holm’s role to build on Ash’s story after the android’s demise.

Alien: Romulus’ Rook Is A New Version Of Ian Holm’s Ash

They Have Many Similarities

Ian Holm’s character in Alien: Romulus is not Ash, as Rook is an entirely new android. He is not a rebuilt version of Ash malfunctions in 1979’s Alien and dies. That said, Rook is still very clearly modeled after Ash. This is similar to how Ridley Scott treated Michael Fassbender’s David in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, as there were different models of the same android who shared an appearance and voice but had different programming, abilities, and more. Instead of Alien: Romulus needing to rebuild Ash to tell the same story, it introduces Rook as a new model of him.

Rook and Ash have more in common than just sharing Ian Holm’s appearance too. Rook’s prime directive is to ensure that the original mission that brought him to the Renaissance space station is fulfilled by any means necessary. He is meant to get Weyland whatever remains of the original Xenomorph from Alien and the results of trying to create a new compound like Prometheus‘ black goo. This is noticeably similar to Ash’s directive in the original movie, which was a secret to the entire Nostromo crew at first. It seems that Weyland built Rook to continue Ash’s mission years later.

How Alien: Romulus Made Rook Look & Sound Like Ian Holm

Holm Died Before Production Began

Since Ian Holm died in 2020, he was unable to participate in Alien: Romulus‘ production, which did not begin until 2023. Holm is still listed in the film’s credits for providing Rook’s “facial and vocal reference.” This means that the movie had to utilize different technological advances to make Rook look and sound like the late actor.

It is not yet confirmed exactly what technology Alien: Romulus employed to make Rook look and sound like Ian Holm. However, it is clear that some form of CGI was used to make the character have Holm’s physical traits. Deepfake technology was likely utilized in some capacity, as it allows a different actor to play Rook in the movie but have Holm’s face digitally added overtop a real performance. Since Ian Holm had plenty of movie roles beyond Alien, there is a lot of footage that Alien: Romulus could pull from to believably make Rook’s appearance work.

The same is likely true for how Alien: Romulus uses Ian Holm’s voice for Rook. He did not record any new dialogue for the movie, nor are any of Rook’s lines repurposed from the original movie or pulled from deleted scenes. It is possible that the movie used some form of AI to recreate Ian Holm’s voice and say Rook’s lines, but that is not confirmed. This could only be accomplished through using some form of technology, though. So whether it is deepfake tech, AI, or something else, Alien: Romulus did not actually have Ian Holm play Rook.

Who Plays Rook In Alien: Romulus?

A Different Actor Was Involved

Rook might look and sound like Ian Holm in Alien: Romulus, but there was a different actor involved in the movie’s production to bring the character to life. The movie officially credits the “facial and vocal performance” of Rook to Daniel Betts. He is the one who was physically part of filming and the foundation for the digital changes that came to make Rook seem like Ian Holm. His physical performance was the basis for what the digital version of Ian’s face did. The same could be true for Rook’s line deliveries.

Daniel Betts is an actor who has been in plenty of projects before Alien: Romulus. He’s worked with Brad Pitt repeatedly on Fury, Allied, and War Machine. Betts is also known for playing Ernst von Hannover in The Crown and Professor Ben Harvey in Fate: The Winx Saga. Other notable credits include A Confession, Atlantic Crossing, Gentleman Jack, Emmerdale Farm, and After the Flood. His role in Alien: Romulus as Rook is similar to how Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had Guy Henry play Grand Moff Tarkin before Peter Cushing’s appearance digitally replaced him.

Why Alien: Romulus Made Rook Like Ash Instead Of Other Androids

David & Bishop Could’ve Worked

The decision to have Rook look like Ash in Alien: Romulus is notable since Ian Holm’s appearance did not have to be used for the android. The franchise previously established that there are other androids with different physical looks. The movie could have conceivably utilized a synthetic who looked like Michael Fassbender’s David or Lance Henriksen’s Bishop. Since Fassbender and Henriksen are still alive, Alien: Romulus could have avoided any ethical dilemmas that come with digitally recreating a deceased actor as it did with Ian Holm.

It would seem that the best explanation for Rook resembling Ash is a matter of the main story and the overall Alien timeline. Alien: Romulus clearly wanted Rook to feel like a continuation of Ash, so making the two androids look identical accomplishes that. The decision does create an unresolved question as to why Weyland created another android modeled after Ash, especially since Bishop notes in Aliens how problematic that model proved to be.

As for why David and Bishop were not used as the basis for Rook in Ash’s place, there are some possibilities. It is presumed that the David models were discontinued sometime between Alien: Covenant and Alien, so Rook looking like Fassbender’s character could have raised questions. Alien: Romulus could have been a great opportunity to show the introduction of the Bishop android models and lead into Aliens. However, since Rook’s prime directive is more aligned with Ash’s versus Bishop’s, it makes sense for Alien: Romulus to connect them through sharing Ian Holm’s likeness.

Alien: Romulus

3.5

Director

Fede Alvarez

Release Date

August 16, 2024

Writers

Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett