 Sigourney Weaver (qv)s character was based on an infatuation that  writer Steve Tesich (qv) had with a Washington D.C. anchorwoman,  in which he recorded her broadcasts and had pictures of her like  William Hurt (I) (qv)s character had in the film for Weaver. The  anchorwoman in question was brought in by Peter Yates (I) (qv) for  technical support on the set to make Weavers character more  believable.