Tim Miller discusses Mackenzie Davis’s Terminator: Dark Fate character

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Grace, the character Mackenzie Davis is playing in the upcoming TERMINATOR sequel TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, has been described as a "soldier-assassin from the future", but the promos we've seen for the film indicate that she's not your average soldier like Kyle Reese. There's something else going on with her; in the trailer she's even accused of being a cyborg, but says she's human.

Director Tim Miller sat down for an interview with Variety ahead of the TERMINATOR: DARK FATE panel at this month's San Diego Comic-Con, and during this interview he was asked about Grace. He replied, 

Before we brought in screenwriters, we did a room with novelists at my request because they’re world builders and we’re reinventing the franchise. One was Joe Abercrombie [the “First Law” series], who pointed out that the “Terminator” films tend to have a trinity of main characters. One of those is the protector, the Kyle Reese character [portrayed by Michael Biehn in the original, Jai Courtney and Anton Yelchin in sequels]. 

Joe came out with this idea that a new protector from the future is a machine fighter. It’s a painful life, and they’re scarred and take a lot of drugs to combat the pain of what’s been done to them. They don’t live a long time. It’s a very sacrificial role; they risk death to save others. And from the very first suggestion it was always a woman. We had to look for someone who has the physicality, but I’m very sensitive to actors. I didn’t just want a woman who could physically fit the role but emotionally as well. Mackenzie really wanted to do it; she came after the role. She worked harder than anybody."

I'm interested to see how this "machine fighter" will do in her battle against the machines of the film.

Miller thinks Grace will play like gangbusters with the audience, but knows that misogynists in the crowd will have issues with her.   

If you’re a closet misogynist, she’ll scare the f–k out of you, because she’s tough and strong but very feminine. We did not trade certain gender traits for others; she’s just very strong, and that frightens some dudes. You can see online the responses to some of the early s–t that’s out there, trolls on the internet. I don’t give a f–k."

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE marks franchise creator James Cameron's return to the series after sitting out multiple sequels – and this film will not be acknowledging the events of the sequels Cameron wasn't around for. This is a direct follow-up to his TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY.

Cameron produced DARK FATE with David Ellison and crafted the story with David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, Charles Eglee, and Josh Friedman. Goyer and Rhodes wrote the screenplay with Billy Ray.

Davis is joined in the cast by Natalia Reyes as heroine Dani, Diego Boneta as Dani's brother, Gabriel Luna as a Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a bearded T-800. Brett Azar and Jude Collie served as CGI stand-ins for a younger Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong, respectively, for the filming of scenes that take place during the time of T2.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE arrives in theatres on November 1st.