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When you think of a great James Cameron action sequence, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it’s beautifully orchestrated balls of fire, whether it be from Terminator 2: Judgment Day or Aliens. As it turns out, when it comes to working with flames on set, Cameron is all business. 

At Baltimore Comic Con 2024, Aliens actor Mark Rolston (who played Drake in the film) spoke about his experience with a flamethrower the day he shot his character’s death scene. “My very first day on the film, it's a 4:30 AM call, I'm walking through the sound stage. It's dark and I can see a light in the distance walking toward me, and it's [James] Cameron with his little miner light on his head. He's making notes furiously and I said, ‘Good morning, Jim!’ He didn't even hear me; he was so focused. I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is a serious movie.’

Cameron’s seriousness was well-placed. Rolston continued, “So I go through all the makeup: I get tubes taped up my leg under an appliance that took hours to do. Then I get on set. They pump chemicals [into the appliance], which would never happen on a film set today. One bubbled, one fizzed, one smoked. They were water-activated, so before we even started, they activated and I had to hold my breath with a lit, real-life flamethrower that shot 25 yards, and there were flamebars on the ground. I had to turn into camera with this toxic stuff blowing, fire off the flamethrower directly in camera, fall in between the flamebars, and wait for two dudes that were bigger than me to lift me up off my feet to where a helicopter fan was blowing off the toxic fumes. And then I could breathe.”

In case you need a refresher, Drake dies in Aliens because he’s too caught up in shooting at the xenomorphs with his flamethrower. Hitting every mark of the action sequence while also holding his own breath is no easy feat, and it’s impressive that Rolston was able to pull it off on his very first day of shooting. Moviemaking can be a dangerous undertaking. 

If you love aliens bursting out of chests and hugging your face, then we have all you could want from  Popverse's Alien watch order, details on where Romulus fits into the Alien timeline, and all you need to know  on the upcoming Aliens TV show with Timothy Oliphant.