Ellen Ripley is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Alien film series played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. She is often considered as one of the best female protagonists of all time: it was heralded for challenging gender roles, particularly in the science fiction, action and horror genres, gave world recognition to Weaver and remains her most famous role to date. She has been included in many Best Characters lists: In 2011, Total Film ranked her first of their top 100 Greatest Female Characters. Ripley has been selected as the eighth-greatest hero in American cinema history by the American Film Institute, as the fifth-coolest hero in pop culture by Entertainment Weekly, the ninth-greatest movie character ever by Empire, and the eighth-best movie character of all time by Premiere, In 2011, John Scalzi called her "Clearly the Best Female Character in Scifi Film". Weaver's performances have been highly praised as well: for Aliens, she earned her first Academy Award nomination for the Best Actress, which is now seen as a landmark in the recognition of science fiction, action, and horror, at a time when the Academy gave little recognition to such genres.