- film ▁premi ere . ▁According ▁to ▁Deb ra ▁Z ane , ▁finding ▁an ▁actress ▁to ▁play ▁the ▁role ▁of ▁L ali ari ▁was ▁very ▁hard , ▁as ▁they ▁had ▁" a ▁difficult ▁time ▁finding ▁a ▁woman ▁who ▁could ▁be ▁Th erm ian ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁way ▁as ▁actors ▁En rico ▁Col ant oni , ▁Rain n ▁Wilson ▁and ▁Jed ▁Re es ". ▁Ult imately , ▁when ▁she ▁aud ition ed ▁Miss i ▁P yle , ▁she ▁was ▁so ▁im pressed ▁that ▁she ▁sent ▁the ▁aud ition ▁t ape ▁directly ▁to ▁Paris ot , ▁with ▁a ▁note ▁stating ▁" If ▁this ▁is ▁not ▁L ali ari , ▁I ▁will ▁res ign ▁from ▁the ▁C SA ." ▁Steven ▁Spiel berg ▁later ▁asked ▁for ▁L ali ari ' s ▁role ▁to ▁be ▁expanded ▁after ▁being ▁im pressed ▁by ▁her ▁performance ▁as ▁well , ▁which ▁was ▁developed ▁into ▁the ▁rom antic ▁association ▁with ▁K wan . ▁Jenn ifer ▁C ool idge ▁was ▁the ▁second ▁choice ▁for ▁the ▁role . ▁ ▁As ▁they ▁cast ▁the ▁other ▁Th erm ians , ▁they ▁started ▁an ▁" al ien ▁school " ▁to ▁help ▁the ▁actors ▁learn ▁how ▁the ▁Th erm ians ▁would ▁act ▁and ▁talk , ▁helping ▁the ▁actors ▁get ▁the ▁idea ▁that ▁the ▁Th erm ians ▁were ▁" bas ically ▁giant ▁cal am ari ▁hiding ▁in ▁human ▁shape ", ▁according ▁to ▁Paris ot . ▁The ▁walk ▁was ▁inspired ▁by ▁how ▁the ▁mar ion ettes ▁were ▁art ic ulated ▁in ▁the ▁series ▁Fire ball ▁X L 5 . ▁Other ▁id