Linda Hamilton on James Cameron and the First 'Terminator' Films

A: It becomes much more your reality than your daytime life. It was hard on the psyche — it really was. You’re on the run, losing your mother, your lover, your roommate for three months. When I finished, I fought some depression and kept dreaming about the Terminator being at my parents’ house.

Q: How did you get along with James Cameron on the first film?

A: We didn’t particularly like or dislike each other on the first one. I had one huge explosive moment the only time I asked to see playback — Jim was one of the first directors to pioneer it. Usually, I don’t need that, but there was this tough day I think I lost some of my confidence, and when I asked to see playback, he said, “We don’t have time. Move on!” And I absolutely flipped out.

Q: What happened?

A: I took him off set and said, “If you want to see a human being on screen, then you need to treat me like one.” Really, when I finished that movie, I thought, “Well, that man is on the side of the machines.” This is someone who spends his spare time trying to figure out vertically landing helicopters — that’s where he goes as a vacation for his mind!

Q: When Sarah Connor became a buff warrior woman in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” did it change the way you related to your character?

A: Truthfully, it felt a lot better than the first one because I was playing an empowered woman. That was so much better than playing the victim who’s terrified all the time. Also, I’m kind and compassionate, but I’m not really gentle. I would hug my kids when they were babies and they’d go, “Ow!” There’s something in me that’s incredibly fierce that I have to work against, but that fierceness works for Sarah Connor.

Q: Where do you think your fierceness came from?

A: I remember in the early days of my career, one director said, “Wow, you come quick to this anger stuff.” My father died when I was young, and my mom was left widowed with four very young children. Basically, I think she was overwhelmed. She definitely fought depression, and we just really weren’t allowed to express ourselves. I asked her once, “Why weren’t we allowed to speak and express our anger?” And she said, “Well, there were four of you and only one of me.” I think I got very lucky that I was paid to go out and play rage in a safe environment.

Q: What do you remember about the reaction to “Terminator 2”?

A: “LindaHamiltonArms.” That’s all one word, and that was not the effect I was going for. There was this guy at the gas station near me who said, “I saw the movie! Did they pump air into your muscles?”

Q: Did you rebel against that?

A: I spent a lot of time being the other thing and wearing dresses for years. I cut my hair off and dyed it red or white — anything to not look like the image of Sarah Connor. I know there are a lot of people who embrace their one thing and do that, but I want to open different doors. Not just the same damn door!

Q: You had a tumultuous relationship with James Cameron for several years after “Terminator 2.” How did you feel when it ended?

A: When I broke up with Jim, I was completely devastated for years. I remember immediately assuming that I was going to enter into another relationship, that it was critical to my essence. But I don’t jump from person to person very easily at all. At the end of every relationship, I’d be like, “Another two or three years without sex? What a waste of a woman!” Because it would always take that long. I do not give myself over that easily.

Q: What is your day-to-day life like now in New Orleans?

A: The benchmark of good health for me is how much time I get to spend alone. This might sound sad, but 20% of my day is spent with other people and 80% is spent alone. I like my mind to wander free of the demands of other people, to go to my coffee shop and have laughter with my friends, then come home and see what the day brings, or what books I’d like to read on the couch with my dogs, or figure out how I can be of service to the neighborhood.

Q: How did you feel after committing to “Terminator: Dark Fate”?

A: To have this character you played 35 years before, a midpiece (“Terminator 2”), and then to play her again 35 years later — you can’t do it without making it worthy of the first two films. And then the word “iconic” starts to creep in. I was slightly terrified.

Q: What do you think when you hear that word?

A: “Icon” is never a word that one uses for oneself. After I did “T2,” directors would say, “You’ve never played a woman like this before — normal.”

Q: How do you react when fans treat you like an icon?

A: If people cry when they meet me, I immediately give them my phone number. I’m like, “Aww, honey, come here. We need to talk. Here’s my number.” I want to be real with them instead of, “Thank you, those were my moments of glory.” I’m not very good at being the mysterious movie star. I’m all out there, and anything is open for dialogue.

Q: How involved were you in conceiving what Sarah Connor would be like all these years later?

A: I was like, “What if she’s fat? Wouldn’t that be great?” You want to stun the audience as they were stunned between the first and the second. We also considered making her a serious alcoholic like Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit,” but it’s been done, and then you’ve got an alcoholic handling weapons.

Q: Ultimately, you had to get back into fighting shape for the film, a regimen that included taking hormones and intense training. What was that like?

A: I had a true village of experts trying to get the most out of this body, but I must be really sensitive to hormones because within two months, I was texting my doctor at 2 in the morning saying, “Hell no!” I would get mad about something, and it would start to own me, and my blood pressure would spike. I would walk around, and my interior monologue was, “Who wants to fight?” And they kept delaying the film!

Q: The fans want to see Sarah kick tush, but she’s older now, so the very nature of that is going to change. How did you reflect that?

A: I don’t want to sell her as someone who can do everything she did in that day, because it’s 27 years later. I made a point to get up more slowly when she took a hit — you don’t just pop up like you’re 32 years old — and embraced those truths of this woman fighting at my age. It was so much richer to bring everything that I’ve got to heel on this woman. Doing that felt incredible.

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Linda Hamilton on James Cameron and the First 'Terminator' Films

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