The original Alien Xenomorph was discovered not in a glowing egg on a faraway planet or scuttling around a gloopy nest, but down the pub. That’s where Peter Archer, one of the film’s casting directors, first clapped eyes on Bolaji Badejo, a 6ft 10in Nigerian graphic design student. The film’s director, Ridley Scott, needed an extremely tall, slender, long-limbed person to fit inside the alien suit, as designed by Swiss artist HR Giger .

Badejo was perfect for the gig. “How would you like to be in movies?” Archer asked him.

Badejo was later described as reserved, mild-mannered and polite. One special effects crew member dubbed him as, quite simply, “the quiet man”. But he brought the terrifying Xenomorph to life – a primal, skin-crawling, strangely elegant monster that spawned a franc

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