Ever wondered what Robert Patrick, the terrifying T-1000 from James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was thinking when he got into character for the blockbuster 1991 sequel to The Terminator?
Well friends, question no more, as below you will find the very details you seek…
In an interview with Marc Shapiro from Starlog, Mr. Patrick stated:
“I looked to animal and insect imagery to develop the lack of substance and wasted motion that my Terminator has, I tried to tap into the killer instinct inherent in animals, where they are locked onto a target and will walk through anything that gets between them and their intended target.
Robert Patrick
Getting the cyborg walk down was one of the first elements of the character I addressed. Arnold and I are two different cyborgs. He has a more defined endo-skeleton, so he has a rigid, jointed walk. Because my guy is basically made up of dense fluid, I decided to mix a kind of military posture with some martial art-like movements that would make my walk appear fluid”.
For anyone wondering about “wasted motion”:
“The waste in motion includes any unnecessary movement of people, equipment, or machinery. This includes walking, lifting, reaching, bending, stretching, and moving.”
Robert Patrick definitely had that animal instinct on display with his T-1000 and the martial art inspired way of moving is also pretty evident – there is a leanly subtle athleticism and very a singular purpose to his portrayal of SkyNet’s liquid metal upgrade.
The T-1000 was an evolution from the 800 series of Terminator (portrayed by Schwarzenegger) and Director James Cameron described the deliberate contrast between the two Terminator units in a Terminator 2: Judgment Day making of featurette:
“I wanted to find someone who would be a good contrast to Arnold. If the 800 series is a kind of human Panzer tank, then the 1000 series had to be a Porsche.”
James Cameron
James Cameron also described Robert Patrick’s T-1000 as cat-like at one point and called Robert Patrick “panther fast” at another; reinforcing the idea of efficiency and fluidity in the way the T-1000 inhabits its surroundings and zeros in on its prey as the hunter.
To listen to our full read-through, click the video below…
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Insects are very intelligent, so I can understand how Robert used that mindset to get into character!