Linda Hamilton says she is celibate for 15 years after two unsuccessful marriages
Linda Hamilton, who shot to fame with her portrayal of Sarah Connor in the first two of the 'Terminator' franchise recently opened up about her lack of sex life in the last decade and a half.
In an interview with the New York Times, ahead of Linda reprising her iconic role in 'Terminator: Dark Fate'. along with co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, which releases in November, the 62-year-old actress divulged secrets about her personal life.
“I love my alone time like no one you’ve ever met,” she said. “I’ve been celibate for at least 15 years. One loses track because it just doesn’t matter — or at least it doesn’t matter to me. I have a very romantic relationship with my world every day and the people who are in it.”
Hamilton has been unsuccessfully married twice in the past. Her first marriage to actor Bruce Abbott lasted from 1982 to 1989. In 1997, she wed director James Cameron, who directed the first two installments of 'Terminator.' However, the second time around too, her relationship ended in divorce after just two years.
From the two marriages, she had one child each - Dalton Abbott and Josephine Archer Cameron.
Looking back at her life and career, she said there were no romantic sparks that flew between her and James during the first installment of 'The Terminator.' When she was approached to play Sarah in the sequel, 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' she was pregnant with Bruce's son and dealing with a divorce from her first husband. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, she decided to pour everything she had into the film. By the time, she started shooting for the movie, she already had her son.
“Having been left, I just needed to get up on my feet and be strong and do nothing but mother my child and get ready for this film,” she said. “You wake up all alone with your body and go, ‘Hmm, these aren’t hips anymore — they’re flanks.’ To give myself permission to be that powerful, strong woman was necessary for my survival.”
Not long after making 'Terminator 2', James and Linda moved in together and had a daughter, only to realize that they were both in love with the character of Sarah rather than each other.
“That relationship was a mystery to all of us — even Jim and myself — because we are terribly mismatched,” she said. “I used to say we fit together like a puzzle: Everywhere he’s convex, I’m concave.”
James said about his relationship with Linda: “I fell in love with her initially because I thought she was a little closer to Sarah than she actually is, but that doesn’t mean that much once you get to know somebody. I think we were just in this high-velocity spiral around each other for a long time. We were fascinated by each other.”
Linda admitted that while her divorce from James wrecked her emotionally for years, everything turned out for the better at the end. “But I’m so glad to be free of that. I would never, ever put that much energy again into something that is not working," she said.
During the interview, she joked that the only way that she would now consider taking a husband if the proposal came from her favorite artist, Kehinde Wiley.
As for her decision to reprise her role as Sarah Connor in the upcoming installment, Linda said it wasn't easy.
“That was my hesitation: Do I want to trade this lovely, authentic life for that? I didn’t want my neighbors looking at me differently. We’re neighbors because of who we are, not what we do, and I don’t want that to creep into my life again,” she said.