Carrie Henn

Child actress who played Newt in Aliens.

Carrie Henn played Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden, a young girl in the colony on LV-426, in the 1986 science fiction-action film Aliens, directed by James Cameron. Agents scouted Henn while she was at school in Lakenheath, England; she had no acting experience. She received a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor but did not pursue an acting career and became a teacher. Her brother Christopher plays Newt's brother Timmy in the film.

Last updated 2026-10-18 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Known for: Portraying Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden in Aliens (1986)

Facts from the source article.

Plot

A deep-space salvage crew discovers Ellen Ripley in stasis for 57 years after she destroyed the Nostromo to kill an alien. Her employers, Weyland-Yutani, doubt her story about alien eggs on LV-426, now a terraforming colony. After contact is lost with the colony, representative Carter Burke and Lieutenant Gorman ask Ripley to accompany Colonial Marines to investigate. She agrees on condition the creatures are exterminated.

On the Sulaco, she distrusts android Bishop due to the betrayal by the Nostromo's android, Ash. On LV-426, they find a ravaged colony and a traumatized girl, Newt. The marines discover a nest with eggs and cocooned colonists. An ambush kills or captures many marines.

Ripley rescues survivors, but a stowaway alien crashes their dropship. Ripley learns Burke ordered colonists to investigate the derelict ship for profit. Bishop reports the power plant will explode. Burke releases facehuggers to implant Ripley and Newt, but they are rescued.

Aliens attack; Burke is killed, Newt is taken. Ripley arms herself, rescues Newt from the alien queen, burns the eggs, and escapes with Newt, Bishop, and the injured Hicks moments before the station explodes.

Revival

By July 1984, Lawrence Gordon replaced Wizan and was surprised the AlienII treatment had not been pursued. Cameron used a nine-month delay in The Terminator to expand his treatment to ninety pages, drawing ideas from his story concept 'Mother' about an alien on a space station involving a power-loader suit. Fox executives and Gordon received the script better, but Cameron also wanted to direct. The studio was reluctant due to his limited directing credit, Piranha II: The Spawning.

His credibility rose after The Terminator's success, and Gordon gave him the job. Cameron noted the plural title implied increased threat. A story circulated that Cameron drew lines through the 's' to create a dollar sign to sell the name, which he confirmed in 2021. Cameron wanted Gale Anne Hurd as producer; Fox doubted she could stand up to him, but she convinced them.

Cameron turned in the finished script in February 1985 before a writer's strike. He and Hurd agreed to combine horror with action. Cameron wrote with a picture of Weaver on his desk. Fox executives, including chairman Barry Diller, were concerned about the budget, offering $12 million. Cameron and Hurd quit, but Gordon negotiated until they returned. In April 1985, conflict turned to the cast.