Sigourney hopes autistic role will help understanding

Sigourney Weaver

Actress Sigourney Weaver says she hopes her latest movie will help improve people's understanding of autism.

She believes the comedy Snow Cake, in which she plays a high-functioning autistic woman, will provide a new perspective on the condition.

"Even though Rain Man was a great movie, there hasn't really been much about autism since," she said.

"I think it's going to be welcome to have another view of what it is - a young woman who lives alone, a woman who has a job - so people can get closer to how many different ways autism manifests itself."