Stand-up comic Paul Reiser only really had Diner and Beverly Hills Cop under his belt as major movie roles before being cast as the slimy Carter Burke, company man to the Wayland-Yutani corporation, in Aliens. Starting out as a seeming good-guy who’s trying to smooth the way for Ripley’s return from 57 years of floating through the galaxy in hypersleep after the events in Alien, Burke’s nefarious intentions eventually become clear. After abandoning his fellow humans and barring their way to make his own escape, he comes face to face with a member of the species he wants to preserve for the company. A deliciously ironic demise, you might say. So long, Burke, we didn’t want to know you.
