AllMovie

Athlete-turned-actress Jenette Goldstein was well suited for her movie debut: James Cameron's pumped-up action sequel Aliens (1986). Born and raised in Los Angeles, Goldstein trained to be a gymnast before deciding she'd rather pursue an acting career. She went to New York and London to study the craft, and was living in Britain when she heard about the Aliens audition. Though she mistakenly thought it was a movie about immigrants, her athletic background as well as acting skills helped her get the role of super-tough Pvt. Vasquez, one of the small band of soldiers pitted against the formidable mother Alien. Buoyed by Aliens' blockbuster success and a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, Goldstein returned to Hollywood. Following a substantial role as one of the vampire gang in Kathryn Bigelow's cult classic Near Dark (1987), Goldstein appeared in several action movies, including The Presidio (1988) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), and also revisited science fiction in Star Trek: Generations (1994). Becoming a James Cameron blockbuster regular, Goldstein also played the small yet pointed role of Edward Furlong's foster mother in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and showed her softer side as a doomed Irish immigrant mom in Titanic (1997). Moving away from big budget genre pictures after Titanic, Goldstein joined the eclectic casts of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Living Out Loud (1998).