Linda Hamilton is doing the rounds promoting her new indie flick ‘Easy Does It’, and in an interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine she talks about Terminator: Dark Fate’s success (or lack thereof), concerns about the movie, the “cruel” ageist audience and the potential for another movie.
You were a little reluctant to do Dark Fate that was released last year. Was that because you weren’t sure it would be successful?
Smashing Interviews Magazine
Linda Hamilton: Yes. Mostly. I just felt like I had done a really strong two films, so was there anything more to say from that character? Unless there was something new to add to the mix, I didn’t want to come on board. Then I, of course, knew that audiences would just be very cruel because the last time they saw Sarah Connor, she was a beast, and now she’s an old lady.
Linda Hamilton
It’s not that I was afraid to go out there and be an old lady. But you think, “Okay. I’m just going to go work out like I did when I was 33, and I’ll get the same results.” Well, that just doesn’t happen when you’re 63 (laughs). You need hormones to put muscle on. I don’t have hormones. So I thought, “What can I bring that will make this worthwhile for the franchise?” Then after training and training and training and realizing where I was and how far I could get, I just thought, “You know what? It doesn’t matter because what I have to bring is not just a body. I have such a big wealth of experience that hasn’t been tapped into. I am going to bring all that.” I just have so much more going on than when I was 33.
So yes, there were some trepidations because if it’s a bad film, then it’s going to look like a shameless money grab. Dark Fate was probably the most invested. I will just give anything and everything that I can. But I’ve played her over the course of 35 years. She’s kind of the bookends of my career, and I just cared so much about the character. I’m not the actress that says to the director, “Oh, my character wouldn’t say that.” That’s never been me. I just do what the director asks and try to make it work. Just keep it simple for me.
I don’t go through a lot of doubt or worry or process or neurosis, but I really had to stand up for Sarah a couple of times on this film because the script really never got finished. We were still working as we were shooting. It was the first time ever in my career where I just was absolutely rigid about certain things and said, “Nope. I know this character best, and that moment is wrong.” So I had to put up a good fight because I cared, not that Jim had wrong ideas, but it was really just a question of setting the tone and going from there. And ultimately there was just a great trust between all of us. It sounds like it was a big problem, but it wasn’t. But I did find myself so invested in outcome, and that’s not usually me.
I don’t care if a movie is successful. I just want it to be good. That still was true for this one. Box office doesn’t matter to me. That’s not my department. I just do everything I can to make it as good as I can when I’m on set. I’m glad that one’s done, honey. There won’t be another one.
So the Terminator franchise is over?
Smashing Interviews Magazine
It looks like it because it didn’t perform at the box office at all. They all know they’d be foolish to attempt it. There’s such a big budget. That movie had to make $500 million to break even or something. Certainly these days, they don’t. People just don’t go to films like they used to.
Linda Hamilton
There we have it; Mackenzie Davis said that it would be “insane” to make more Terminator movies, and now Linda Hamilton is saying that making more Terminator movies would be “foolish”. Both actors are probably correct right now but that doesn’t mean Terminator 7 won’t happen one day, though maybe the audience needs a rest?
We feel the audience (especially the fans) were very welcoming of Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger returning, and we would still class any failures Terminator: Dark Fate experienced to be down to the troubled production and the wrong direction and story.
We definitely wouldn’t say the audience was cruel – and (again much like Tim Miller’s blanket statements about misogyny) statements of ageism don’t sit with us, as Hollywood, as an institute, has displayed ageism against mature women; with the running joke of turning 40 being the end of the careers of many actresses.
Linda Hamilton being in Dark Fate was a sign of change (we had hoped) and her return was initiated by the fans and not Hollywood itself, so hopefully Hollywood can use its own initiative to tackle ageism in the years ahead.
Source: Smashing Interviews Magazine
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