Sigourney Weaver on TV: How Her Star Power Went Beyond the Big Screen

While Sigourney Weaver had small roles on TV early in her career (on the NBC soap opera "Somerset" in 1976, and the 1977 PBS mini-series "The Best of Families"), she mainly worked in feature films following the success of her transformative role of Ellen Ripley in 1979 science fiction classic "Alien."

Beginning in 1997, however, Weaver started to dabble in TV again, and earned quite a bit of acclaim by doing so. Here's a look at three times her star power went beyond the big screen:

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1. Lady Claudia, "Snow White: Tale of Terror" (1997)
A far cry from Walt Disney's 1937 animated classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the R-rated Showtime version of the famed princess stars Weaver as the evil stepmother opposite widower Frederick (Sam Neill) as his young daughter, Lillian (Taryn Davis). Much like the traditional Brothers Grimm fairy tale, however, we get to see the beautiful side of Weaver's character as well as the ugly side via the mirror, mirror on the wall.

The TV movie earned Weaver a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

2. Mary Griffith, "Prayers for Bobby" (2009)
Weaver was nominated for Best Actress by the Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globes (in the organizations' TV miniseries or movie category) for her portrayal of Mary Griffith in the Lifetime TV movie "Prayers for Bobby." According to TV.com, the film is based on the true story of Griffith, a religious suburban housewife in the 1970s who struggling to come to grips with the fact her son, Bobby (Ryan Kelley) is gay.

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3. Elaine Barrish, "Political Animals" (2012)
Three years after "Prayers for Bobby," Weaver repeated her awards success with Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards (in the organizations' TV mini-series or movie category) for the USA Network mini-series "Political Animals."

A political saga that somewhat mirrors the White House plight of former President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, "Political Animals" stars Weaver as Secretary of State Elaine Barrish, the ex-wife of Bud Hammond (Ciaran Hinds) – a United States president in the 1990s known for his extramarital affairs.

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