Anecdotes

Directed a Maxwell House coffee commercial that starred Shakira Caine. Michael Caine saw the commercial and was so taken by her beauty, he desperately searched for her. They have been married 30 years.

He cast his partner in life, Giannina Facio, in nearly all of his films since Gladiateur (2000). They finally married in June 2015.

He has dedicated several of his films in memory of his family: Blade Runner (1982) to his brother Frank, La chute du faucon noir (2001) to his mother, and Le conseiller (2013) and L'exode: Dieux et rois (2014) to his brother Tony. Ridley also paid tribute to his late brother Tony at the 2016 Golden Globes, after Seul sur Mars (2015) won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

Estimated in an interview that he operated on roughly 2,700 commercials.

Directed 7 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Ruby Dee, Matt Damon and Christopher Plummer. Crowe won for his performance in Gladiateur (2000).

In 2012, Scott was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life that he most admires to mark his 80th birthday.

He is cited as a major influence by the Canadian director James Cameron, who made the first sequel to Scott's Alien: Le huitième passager (1979), as well as iconic films such as Terminator (1984), Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009). Cameron has admitted that he goes to see any new Ridley Scott film because "...he is such an artist, he's such a filmmaker. I always learn from him".

He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007.

Coming from an army and fine arts background, he is an inveterate stickler for detail who tackles each movie project with the vehemence of a general with a battle plan. His persistent scrutiny of minutiae on the Alien: Le huitième passager (1979) shoot prompted Sigourney Weaver to complain that he cared more about his props and sets than he did about his cast.

Suffers from claustrophobia, a condition he actively sought to instill in his Alien: Le huitième passager (1979) cast by making their Nostromo living quarters as cramped as possible.

With his brother Tony Scott, he bought Shepperton Studios in 1995 for £12 million.

Received a TCL Chinese Theatre handprint ceremony on May 17, 2017. His hands and feet were encased in cement outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. He first set foot on the famous sidewalk in 1960, when he had no intention of entering the movie business. He was 22, fresh out of college and after working in New York for nine months, saved enough money to travel to L.A. on a Greyhound bus. "One of the big deals for me was to come to Hollywood," Scott remembered. "I stayed in a boarding house nearby and walked to Hollywood Boulevard. I remember standing outside and staring at the footprints. Never, ever, would I have thought that this would happen." [Variety 2017].

Ridley Scott stated on an interview with Wired magazine that the best science fiction films ever made are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner & On the Beach.

The famous Superbowl television commercial "1984" Scott directed for the launch of Apple's Macintosh was filmed on Stage H at Shepperton Studios where Scott had earlier filmed his exterior landscapes for Alien: Le huitième passager (1979). Apple paid an estimated $1m for the one-off telecast of the commercial during Superbowl XVIII where the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9. Scott estimated a budget of approximately $350,000 for the commercial.

He was originally set to direct Dune (1984), but left the production after his older brother suddenly passed away. Scott wanted to start working as soon as possible, but Dune would take far too long to reach production. Scott decided to leave the project in favor of Blade Runner (1982), which was ready to start production immediately.

He was the first choice to direct Extrême limite (1991), but he chose Thelma et Louise (1991) instead.

The 2009 Sunday Times List estimated his net worth at $172 million.

In 2011, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He was reportedly set to direct Les prédateurs (1983), but decided to pass when he heard that David Bowie was in on the deal. It became his brother Tony Scott's directorial debut.

He disowned the theatrical cut of Le royaume des cieux (2005) and named the Director's Cut as the definitive version. During the TIFF press conference for Seul sur Mars (2015), he said that re-editing the film was the only regret he's made in his career.

Was 39 years old when he directed Les duellistes (1977), his first feature length film.

Of all the professional actors he has hired / worked with for his films, over 50% come from elite drama schools and the theatre, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon, The Globe Theatre, The Old Vic and the National Theatre in London, which he feels brings as large a presence to the screen as the actors do to the stage.

In late 2005, he was preparing to direct "The Invisible World" from a screenplay by Dana Stevens based on a treatment by Washington Post correspondent David Ignatius. The film was to star Angelina Jolie, and was based on the abduction of a female journalist in Iraq. However, Jolie's pregnancy at the time halted production, putting off the project altogether. This sudden opening in Scott's schedule allowed him to direct Gangster américain (2007) the following year.

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Alien: Le huitième passager (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and Thelma et Louise (1991).

One of his favorite films is Muriel (1994): "I've seen it 6 times, it's really fantastic." [Hollywood Reporter, Roundtable 2015].

1986: Enya's recording "Aldebaran" is dedicated to him.

He was approached to replace Bryan Singer as the director of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).

Considers Le conseiller (2013) to be one of his best films.

His first feature film, Les duellistes (1977) is based on a Joseph Conrad story. In his next film, Alien: Le huitième passager (1979), the spaceship was known as the Nostromo and its escape ship as the Narcissus. Both are names taken from Conrad stories.

2005: Ranked #5 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Greatest directors ever!".

Owns the visual effects company Mill Film, based in London. They did the majority of the effects work on Gladiateur (2000).

Father of Jake Scott and Luke Scott with Felicity Heywood.

Education: West Hartlepool College of Art (1954-1958: Diploma in Design 1958, with honors); Royal College of Art (autumn 1958-1961: M.A. in Graphic Design 1961). Two postgraduate courses at the RCA followed. Then he got a traveling scholarship and went to New York, where he gained experience in editing at Leacock/Pennebaker. A year later he would return to England where he worked as an art director for the BBC. His skill in designing sets for television eventually led to designing sets for commercials. After participating in the BBC's directors training course, he quit television. He decided to focus almost entirely on his advertisements and in 1965 he opened his own commercial production company called Ridley Scott Associates.

Like his brother Tony Scott, he is an avid smoker of Montecristo Cuban cigars.

In 1994, he was slated to direct "Hot Zone" from a screenplay by James V. Hart, based on the 1992 New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. The film was to star Robert Redford and Jodie Foster, and was based on the true story of the discovery of the deadly Ebola virus. Some of Scott's regular collaborators slated to work on the film included cinematographer Hugh Johnson and production designer Ken Davis.

Various factors, including the development of the similarly-plotted L'épidémie (1995), led to the project being canceled. The very day this happened, Scott was given a copy of the script to White Squall (1996) and decided to direct it.

"Crisis in the Hot Zone" was eventually adapted as the National Geographic TV miniseries The Hot Zone (2019), with Scott serving as an executive producer.

He was offered the chance to direct Le loup de Wall Street (2013) back when the project was at Warner Bros. with Brad Pitt starring.

He was Joel Silver's first choice to direct L'arme fatale (1987). Due to Scott's still recent tensions with Warner Brothers during the making of Blade Runner (1982) the studio refused to offer him the job.

Is frequently involved, as producer and director, with historically-oriented projects: Les duellistes (1977), 1492: Christophe Colomb (1992), Gladiateur (2000), LES PILIERS DE LA TERRE (2010).

He was said to be helming Blade Runner 2049 (2017) himself back in 2011, but his work on Prometheus (2012), Le conseiller (2013), L'exode: Dieux et rois (2014), Seul sur Mars (2015) and Alien: Covenant (2017) resulted in him taking a step back into an executive producer capacity only.

Has worked with three Aragorns. His first theatrical film, Les duellistes (1977), featured Sir Robert Stephens, who played Aragorn in the BBC radio adaptation. His breakthrough film, Alien: Le huitième passager (1979), featured John Hurt, who voiced the character in the Ralph Bakshi animated film Le seigneur des anneaux (1978). G.I. Jane (1997) featured Viggo Mortensen, who played the part in Peter Jackson's live-action adaptation.

He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to the film Industry.

All of his feature films have at least one Academy Award nominated actor in the cast and 15 of his feature films have even an Academy Award winning actor or actress in the cast [2015].

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard since November 5, 2015.

Divides his time among his homes in Hampstead (UK), France and Los Angeles.

While in college at the Royal College of Art, he was a contributor to the college magazine ARK. He also helped establish a film studies department at the school.

He was attached to direct Le parfum: Histoire d'un meurtrier (2006) years before production finally began.

His hand-drawn storyboards along with personal notes for Alien: Le huitième passager (1979) were published in the Winter 2014 issue of Directors Guild Quarterly magazine, "Drawing Board: Alien Creature," pp. 58-59.

Honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art. [July 3, 2015].

He was unable to direct Alien³ (1992), as he was busy working on 1492: Christophe Colomb (1992).

On 3 July 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London at which he described how he still keeps on his office wall his school report placing him 31st out of 31 in his class, and how his teacher encouraged him to pursue what became his passion at art school.