The death / termination of John Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate will quite possibly live on as the most memorable and controversial part of the entire movie – we spoke to British Actor, and John Connor body double, Jude Collie about working on T:DF, what Tim Miller was like on set, Edward Furlong’s feelings on the killing off of the character, if Jude he would be willing to come back to undo the death of John Connor and more.
Be sure to watch the video for more but below are some of the highlights…
How did you get the role in Terminator: Dark Fate and when did you first realize you would be portraying John Connor?
I went to an audition just for Terminator, I didn’t realize what I was auditioning for. My mum told me it was for Terminator, and I was like ‘whoa that’s pretty cool’. I did, it was the scene in the car, the hasta la vista one, so I didn’t really know what I was going for, I just thought it would be some like… I didn’t know at all what it was, and I did two auditions; I did one and then they asked me for a call back which in itself was amazing and then my mum got a call, and, she picked me up from school and told me what had happened, er and yeah… and I didn’t find out that I was playing John until my first costume fitting when they were like oh so do you know what you are doing? And I was like no, no and he was like you’re playing John and I was like ‘what?!’ (laughs).
Jude Collie
On your official instagram account you said that your favorite Terminator movie was Terminator 2 and Dark Fate. How many times did you watch Terminator 2?
I watched Terminator 1 and 2 a couple times before the audition and then a lot just to get an idea of the role of John. I watched 1 quite a bit but T2 – I watched that the most just because it’s got John in it and I wanted to see how to portray the character. It’s a great film.
Jude Collie
Did you already have the John Connor haircut or did you have to grow it out for the role?
I had already been growing my hair for a while and it was getting quite long and they were like ‘oh we like the length but we need it a bit longer’ and they said ‘do not cut it’. Like three months? Four months? I didn’t cut my hair. I got there they liked the length and they ended up only trimming a tiny bit so I ended up having quite long hair but now I’m growing it again so its even longer now.
Jude Collie
You might need to keep it long in case you get asked back…
Ah yeah, John Connor spinoff.
What was it like to be killed on screen then?
Oh, it was awesome. Well this- ‘cos this is my debut, I did a lot of stunt training, so it was teaching me how to fall and stuff and how to look like I’d been shot, which was really cool and I got to work with some great people. A lot of my friends said they enjoyed watching me get shot which was quite funny (laughs).
Jude Collie
Edward Furlong recently stated that he feels a little disappointed in the termination of John Connor because he would have loved to make a return but if the movie (Terminator: Dark Fate) got a sequel would you be willing to reprise the role of young John again to allow a time travel plot device so you can undo the death of John Connor – would you be interested in doing that?
A hundred percent, like without a doubt I know there’d be a lot of controversy because that’s happened quite a lot with just like, ‘oh time travel, that’s already happened’ so I think there would be controversy but I would still just love to do it.
Jude Collie
If you could pick any character from the first two Terminator movies to come back and save John – to save you, who would you choose? Would you pick and older Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese from the first movie or would you pick Edward Furlong as an older John Connor?
I think an older John Connor could be cool but maybe Kyle Reese to come back and save John, that’d be pretty cool.
Jude Collie
Brett Azar told TheTerminatorFans.com that Linda Hamilton took control of the scenes of John Connor’s death, and she wanted it to be believable for her, as an actress. So what was it like to meet the real Sarah Connor and to have her be involved in your scenes?
It was absolutely mental, the first thing she said to me was ‘call me mom’, and like ‘oh my god’ brain explode… it’s just amazing. Shes so lovely but shes so firm but yeah shes just so strict.
Jude Collie
She takes Terminator deadly seriously then?
God yeah.
Jude Collie
You can tell, she always plays Sarah Connor with conviction.
Oh yeah, yeah and Tim Miller, yeah, he’s so great.
Jude Collie
You said on social media that Tim Miller treated you like everyone else…
Yeah, that felt really great because I was worried, because I was the youngest on set and most inexperienced, I was worried that I was going to be treated differently, like not in a bad way – but differently to everyone else.
Jude Collie
He [Tim Miller] came in while I was tutoring just top say hello and introduce himself and just for him to be chatting with me. It’s not a hierarchy with him, it’s like he’s on the same level with everyone else.
Would you like to work with Tim Miller again?
One hundred percent!
Jude Collie
Tim Miller and James Cameron have said that it was meant to be a bit longer, your scene, and you were meant to exchange some dialogue with the young Sarah Connor (Maddy Curley) and that those scenes got cut. Did you actually film those scenes where you exchange dialogue?
I did, I did. It was a bit gutting when… I did watch it, obviously it was great to see myself but to see that my lines got cut I kept hoping they’d do another flashback and there’s my lines but no.
Jude Collie
Do you remember what those lines were, just like mother and son discussion?
Just general chat really…
Jude Collie
Was it something about going to the bar to get a drink or anything like that?
Yeah, just general chat and then just go to the bar.
Jude Collie
Thanks to Jude for taking the time out to talk to us!
Follow Jude on instagram @senseijude
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