Rapace says her character is ‘very much her own,’ despite sharing similarities to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Noomi Rapace Photo: Mike Marsland/ WireImage Despite spin that “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi flick that returns the director to his “Alien” roots, is not a prequel to the franchise he helped launch in 1979, some of the stars of the new film apparently beg to differ. Actor Michael Fassbender told us last month that the new movie shares “a definite connecting vein” with the previous films. And now “Prometheus” co-star Noomi Rapace has seconded that assessment. When MTV News recently asked the Swedish actress about the definitive “Alien” connection, she answered, simply, “Yeah, yeah.” Yet Rapace emphasized that her character, a scientist named Elizabeth Shaw, is not some knock off of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley — the take-no-crap hero of the original “Alien” movies. “She’s definitely her own,” Rapace said of Shaw. “She’s a scientist and she’s very bright and she’s a believer. They have some similarities, but she’s very much her own. I don’t think people will compare [her] so much to Ripley when they see her. Ripley was a hero for me.” MTV News spoke with Rapace in January on the set of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” a film that will mark a sort of Hollywood coming-out party for the star of the Swedish-language “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” films. After finishing up work on “Sherlock,” Rapace was anticipating beginning “Prometheus” in March for a shoot that could run into the early fall, ahead of a March 9, 2012, theatrical release. Before then, however, she and Scott have work to do in simply developing the character of Shaw. “I have many ideas and he has many ideas, and now we try to find her,” the actress told us. “I will step into her shoes in March and be here for six months, so it’s quite a long shoot.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Prometheus.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
People confirms the pair are expecting their first child together. By Jocelyn Vena Jacqui Ainsley and Guy Ritchie (file) Photo: Niki Nikolova/ FilmMagic Guy Ritchie and his girlfriend, Jacqui Ainsley, are expecting their first child together. People magazine confirmed that the 29-year-old model and the “Sherlock Holmes” director have a baby on the way. Gossip Cop reports that the due date is in September. “They have been keen to start a family. We expect to hear wedding bells next year,” a source told the U.K.’s Daily Mail about the parents-to-be, who have been together for nearly a year. “Jacqui was crying with joy when she found out. They went on holiday because Guy is desperate for her to take it easy. He won’t let her do anything more strenuous than argue over baby names.” It seems that motherhood has always been in the cards for Ainsley, who has opened up about her desire to have babies. “I’ve known since I was very little that I want to be a mummy and I want to have kids,” she once said in an interview with Hello! magazine. “Family is so important to me and obviously I think about it, but I’m still fairly young and I don’t want to rush things. I want everything to happen organically.” In the interview with Hello!, the blonde also dished about her feelings for Ritchie. “Guy’s my soul mate,” she said. “I love every moment we spend together. I can’t see that ever changing.” This is the director’s third child. He has two sons, Rocco, 10, and David, 5, with ex-wife Madonna, whom he divorced in 2008. Ritchie is currently working on the “Sherlock Holmes” sequel. Meanwhile, Ainsley has modeled for Lynx, Boux Lingerie, Samsung, Sunsilk, Virgin Atlantic, Cosmopolitan and Tatler and appeared in “Die Another Day.” Share your well-wishes for the couple in the comments!