The Linda Hamilton Chronicles
There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves. The star talks us through the key roles with which she’s built hers
VICKY BAXTER
CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) One of Hamilton’s earliest starring roles was in a schlocky adaptation of the Stephen King short story
“I thought that was going to end my career. Because every cool thing that’s in the book disappeared the day before we were shooting it. I’d go, ‘Isn’t the corn supposed to be black here?’ And they’d go, ‘Yeah, we couldn’t afford that.’ Then they added a scene where I’m getting back in this damn car at the end, and I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? People will think I’m stupid.’ And the producer looks at me and goes, ‘We want the audience to think you’re stupid.’ My heart did sink, but one learns that you can only do your part.”
SARAH CONNOR
THE TERMINATOR (1984) Hamilton’s first shot at the role of her life, a waitressturned-warrior, in James Cameron’s sci-fi thriller
“I did not understand what it was going to be until I saw the film, and then I said, ‘Oh my God, that man’s a genius.’ We were doing wild things — they had me learning on a 1250 [motorcycle], a machine I couldn’t even pick up, before they scrapped that, I imagine for my own safety. And our special-effects coordinator just loved setting things on fire. Some crazy days. I don’t remember a whole lot about Arnold from the first movie, largely because we are never sharing a space, except for the disco and then at the end. I was a little bit of a theatre snob — I trained in New York — and was like, ‘Uh, Arnold?’ But then I went to set and watched him do his best cyborg, and thought, ‘Yes. This could work.’”
CATHERINE CHANDLER
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1987-’89) Hamilton starred opposite Ron Perlman in a spin on the classic tale
“It was a wonderful couple of years, because I got to work with Ron and say beautiful dialogue. But I also am the kind of person who will ruffle a bit if things get too repetitive. So I did chafe and got real tired of going, ‘Vincent, I feel it in you.’ I remember when we did our collision kiss, when we grab each other, there was so much hoopla at the network. They were just afraid. So I cried when I saw that scene. By the way, Ron still calls me Beauty. And he’ll always be Beast. I will always love him dearly.”
SARAH CONNOR
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
Back, and bulked up, as an embittered Sarah Connor for Cameron’s mega-sequel
“It was a significant time in my life, because my first husband left while I was pregnant. And it was just a wonderful bit of timing, in terms of, ‘You’re not going to be in a puddle here. You need to be a soldier.’ I got maybe four hours of sleep a night for that entire shoot, because I had a baby who couldn’t be ignored and a huge job. They were really good days, but the biggest meltdown I ever had in my career was on that show. I was just incredibly disciplined about eating; I ate nothing with fat. And I had asked for red Jell-o for my treat at lunch. When it didn’t arrive, I just broke. I was like, ‘I asked for ONE THING!’ There was red Jell-o on my next two or three films, I’m pretty sure.”
RACHEL WANDO
DANTE’S PEAK (1997)
Dodging lava and falling in love-a with Pierce Brosnan in this fun ’90s caper
“It was very interesting to do a film that was so huge, but with dialogue that was just kind of ordinary. But Pierce and I had a really good time. We were just trouble together. I did almost drown on that film, in the lake. They needed this big shot, against the biggest greenscreen in the world at that time, on the back lot of Universal. The boat had to go on a very specific axis, so they pulled it on a guide wire. And somehow, the wire pulled the bow under the water. Pierce was heroically trying to keep the propellor away from us, and I had a child in my hands and Elizabeth [Hoffman], who played my mother-in-law, on my back. My feet were touching the bottom of the lake but
I couldn’t move. In terms of life-threatening things at work, that was the big one for me.”
SARAH CONNOR
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2019) After sitting out Terminators 3 to 5, Hamilton came back older, wiser but no less lethal
“It just felt so emotionally loaded, going back. I’d worked my ass off beforehand, going to the most painful, disappointing places, combing through bitterness and darkness. And then, when we started and there wasn’t a finished script, it all of a sudden became clear that it might not be a good movie. I had an existential crisis on that film. Tim [Miller] would say, ‘I want her relatable.’ And I would go back to my room and say, ‘Relatable? When was Sarah Connor ever relatable?’ I love Tim. I love my ladies. But to me there was just something missing. It moved a little too fast. And there were so many beautiful moments that didn’t make it in. I’ll need to see it again, ten years from now, when I’ve stepped way, way back.”
GENERAL MCCALLISTER
RESIDENT ALIEN (FROM 2021)
A return to series TV as a military officer hunting down Alan Tudyk’s loveable and literal illegal alien
“After T2 I was offered police officers, lesbians, military people and crazy people. It does seem to be my destiny to play authority figures — I played the President once, and this is my second general. But I’m having a great time playing the character; there’s a vulnerable child under there. And it’s so much fun to get in and win my comedic chops. It’s something I haven’t gotten to do a lot of. I really just love it more and more, the more they let me do.”
RESIDENT ALIEN SEASON 2 IS OUT NOW ON SKY AND NOW