Sigourney Weaver in NPR's Fresh Air

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/19/156980965/sigourney-weavers-stately-role-in-political-animals

Sigourney Weaver's Stately Role In 'Political Animals'

Andrew Eccles/USA Network Sigourney Weaver stars as Secretary of State Elaine Barrish in the USA Network miniseries Political Animals.

July 19, 2012

In the new USA Network miniseries Political Animals, Sigourney Weaver plays smart, tough Secretary of State Elaine Barrish. It's a role many critics have likened to current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but Weaver says the show's creators were thinking beyond Clinton when they devised the role.
"We've had three remarkable women who've been our secretaries of state in our last three administrations, but somehow we're not willing as a country to elect a woman president," she says. "And I think this show partially investigates what that's about."
In the series, Weaver's character accepts the president's invitation to become secretary of state after she loses the race for her party's presidential nomination. She also divorces her husband, a former president who had some serious run-ins with infidelity.
"It about someone evolving, starting a new life, someone evolving and going for broke on her own," Weaver tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies.
"She's got it together. And I think that's a big part of what our story tells."
It's another strong female role for Weaver, who has starred in films like Alien, Ghostbusters and Gorillas in the Mist. But there's one big difference, she says.
"Elaine is more in the mainstream, where most of the women I've played are on the edge," she says. "They're in space or they're in the mountains with the gorillas — there's something about them that's a bit off — whereas Elaine was sort of like a Girl Scout who grew up wanting to be president. ... I've never quite played a person like this. She's very solid."