From the very early phases of Terminator: Dark Fate’s production, fans were told that the sixth Terminator movie’s story (a sequel to T2) would have franchise legend Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) passing her torch/baton to a character called Dani Ramos.
Natalia Reyes was the one to get the role but will she be cemented with audiences; especially after the mixed reviews for Terminator: Dark Fate?
*Spoilers ahead*
We now know of course that Dani Ramos is the new John Connor and Sarah Connor, condensed into one character but the future of the franchise seemingly hinges on our acceptance of the character and, let’s face it, Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger are not easily replaced.
Even Arnold Schwarzenegger is no fool to the Dani Ramos conundrum…
“She’s under a lot of pressure because the question when you cast is not only can you pull it off, but would the people buy-in? That you never know, I always said in the beginning, that’s going to be the challenge of the movie. Either people going to buy into those new women [or not]. That is the key thing.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger told io9
Without a doubt Reyes personally feels the pressure…
“I hate when I hear ‘Terminator 6,’ my brain goes ‘Ugh,’ you don’t really want to do the sixth of anything, right? But I think the first thing you ask as an actor is like, ‘Why? Why are you telling this story again for the sixth time?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, James Cameron’s back. Oh, Linda Hamilton is back.’ I think those are the big things about this movie.”
Natalia Reyes told io9
Natalia told io9 that she became a Terminator Fan after seeing T2 on TV a few years after its release but after seeing it she then wanted to see the first movie.
“I just have this [memory] of Sarah Connor doing pull-ups and going ‘Wow,’ I’m seeing these robots and the eye and the hand…the movie is just part of the pop culture. We all know about it. And it’s a classic because it’s universal. That’s why this is so important. They told this story 35 years ago. And 35 years later, we can tell [a similar] plot and story, but being totally new and updated and different and fresh and cool, and still be a great film.”
Natalia Reyes told io9
Natalia describes Terminator: Dark Fate as “totally new, fresh and cool” and also striking a chord on a personal level…
“Sarah Connor was a waitress. She was a single mother. She was nobody. And suddenly she was this huge action hero. As a woman, I don’t think you get many references [like that] and especially being a Latino. You don’t have a Latino character like this, you’ve seen Michelle Rodriguez playing some things, but I think that’s why it’s so important. We need to create those roles. We need to create those references.”
Natalia Reyes told io9
Reyes also told ‘the quint’:
“I think I was actually more surprised by the fact that it was a Latina in my case, I was like really, I’m not going to die in the first five scenes, or I’m not the maid or I’m not like this cliched characters, that’s amazing, I was not thinking of the fact that I’m a woman but I think it is relevant and I think it just shows how the world is changing and it was time that women get every role that we can get to and also Latinas like we can go and be there and not only like be this stereotype and cliches.”
Natalia Reyes told ‘the quint’
Natalia told io9 about the development of character, speeches and how she can be inspirational and the leader that the story requires her to be.
After all, in the future she has her own army.
“This is 2019. So I think things are changing. And we were like thinking about guns and violence and how different women can be, Sarah is really obsessed with guns. That’s the way she got strong. But then you see Grace and she uses guys, but she’s not really into weapons. She’s more [of] a fighter. So, what is Dani’s strength? How is she going to get stronger? What are her weapons?
Natalia Reyes told io9
Being on set and creating this character with Tim was really interesting because we were discovering things, we were thinking about how important speech can be to move people. You see that right now because people are always moved by social media or whatever. How is Dani going to be the leader? How is she going to be a strong woman? She’s going to move people in a different way, [with her words.]”
Aside from the diversity and growth of the Dani Ramos character in Terminator: Dark Fate; Natalia also now appreciates the action genre more since participating in a Terminator movie, and nods to the fact it might not be as easy as people assume from the outside looking in…
“Action for sure, I think as actress I have been working on performance and emotions and it is not always easy, this whole new world of an action movie, I’ve never done a movie like this, so I think if feels like a language you need to learn, it’s a whole different thing, so it takes a lot of training or concentration, you just need to be there and you need to be aware that you are actually, I feel you are risking your life, it’s real, there are people behind the scenes, like a group of people like stunts and really professional people but they’re also hanging on these wires and they’re risking their lives anyway so that’s the toughest part.”
Natalia Reyes told ‘the quint’
However, the true question is… will people accept Dani Ramos as the new John (leader of the Resistance), Or, has the controversy of Dark Fate’s opening scene prevented the acceptance of this character?
Can a sequel rectify these problems or is history set to repeat itself in an industry that has failed to capture the magic of 1984’s and 1991’s Terminator movies?
Arnold Schwarzenegger does believe Natalia Reyes has what it takes to take the torch of the franchise and extends his full support…
“Just like Linda Hamilton in the first Terminator, [Natalia] comes in as this innocent little girl that you wouldn’t expect [to be] a leader, you would have never thought when you see [Sarah] working in a restaurant, this is going to be a future leader? Come on. But then it sneaks up on you. And she gets stronger and stronger. She makes decisions. All of a sudden she takes over more and more. And so we see [Dani] becoming the leader. [Natalia’s] done an extraordinary job.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger told io9
What do you think, are you up for the Dark Fate sequels and more Dani Ramos?
We previously discussed the possibility of Dani Ramos being the latest McGuffin in the Terminator franchise – Click Here
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