SDCC 2019: Arnold Schwarzenegger 'addicted' to 'Terminator', new 'Dark Fate' footage screened after cast share experiences
'Terminator: Dark Fate' sees the return of iconic characters Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger). The duo who are part of the movie panel in the ongoing San Diego Comic-Con 2019 spoke at length about reprising their roles in the latest installment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger took the stage saying "It's absolutely incorrect to say I don't need to come back." He added, "Of course I need to come back! I'm addicted to 'Terminator'."
"Terminator is the movie that really launched my action movie career. I did 'Conan the Barbarian' and then 'Conan the Destroyer' and then James Cameron came to me and said I want you to do 'Terminator'," he explained. "From that moment on, everything changed in my life." He also thanked Cameron for creating the character, while also expressing his excitement on Hamilton's return.
Hamilton said she gave playing Sarah Connor again careful consideration. "I felt that the first two were very intact and you kind of want to retire a champion," she said. "It was the passage of time. I was very intrigued. The character is the same but time changes everything but what has happened? Who is she now? There were so many possibilities 27 years later that I felt there was just a world of richness I could explore and then rock it as a woman of a certain age."
The 62-year old also shed light on prepping for the role. As reported by Comicbook, she said, "Diet and all of that to sort of get trim and get far into the character as I could physically but one day I woke up and I was like, 'I can no longer worry about trying to be what I was because I am so much more than I was.'"
"That was the moment I realized I wanted to really be on board with this," Hamilton continued. "The richness of my life experience is only going to enrich the character that I play. That gave me so much to work on in the backstory stuff that you won't see but I worked from it in my performance."
Soon after, the stage was taken by the rest of the cast - Gabriel Luna, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, and Diego Boneta - who also had experiences to share. Davis, who place Grace - a cyborg in the film - was generous in her praise for director Tim Miller.
"I was pretty trepidatious going into it because I had this old Hollywood idea that there'd be like an old Hollywood director with a megaphone," she said. "It's pretty evident as soon as you start talking to Tim that that's not his style." Miller acknowledged the compliments. Davis said the movie was "wonderful" to make and it's "really f***ing good."
Luna plays the Terminator Rev-9, an upgraded version of the Terminator endoskeleton with poly-alloy that could split into two entities. He spoke about how he trained with Schwarzenegger while filming.
Before the conclusion of the panel, footage of the movie was screened. The footage starts with the trio, Grace, Daniela (Reyes) and Diego (Boneta) fleeing on a truck chased by the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna). The first few minutes of the footage was the same as the teaser trailer that was unveiled a month ago. They throw a metal bar at Luna who duplicates himself through the bar and hurls it back at Grace.
The other entity jumps onto the truck that the trio are in and faces-off against Grace until a tire blows. The truck crashes and the Rev-9 morphs back to one entity again. Captured with nowhere to go, they get ready for battle when Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) pulls up in another truck and blasts the Terminator with an RPG.
She then walks by the girls, drops a grenade, and says, "I'll be back." The grenade explodes behind her as she pulls out a shotgun. Daniela asks, "Who the f--- is that?'" Later she goes on to explain about herself and how she hunts Terminators. Soon after, Schwarzenegger emerges from a cabin and Sarah tries to kill him. It is revealed that he is "Carl."
Schwarzenegger helps train the girls and Sarah promises to terminate Carl when the battle is over. This is followed by action sequences, a glimpse of Grace in the future and a showdown between Carl and the Rev-9. It ends with Daniela who will possibly take up the duties of Sarah Connor and continue her fight against the machines.
'Terminator: Dark Fate' premieres November 1.