While action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, and many more have been able to continue kicking ass on the big-screen for decades, the same can't always be said for women of action. As Linda Hamilton will be leaping back into the action genre for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE to reprise the role of Sarah Connor, that's something she hopes will change.
The actress spoke with THR where she was asked about her recent comment at San Diego Comic-Con in which she talked about wanting to rock it "as a woman of a certain age" in a genre dominated by male action stars. THR asked Hamilton what needs to change before older women get a fair shake in the realm of action.
I think we have to make “skin” a four-letter word. We talk about skin having wrinkles and the color of skin. But skin is such a small part of a human but there is so much focus on it. I hate it. I always said I was like the velveteen rabbit of actress, where everything gets worked down to a very real shape. And I have been proud of that; I was saying it 30 years ago, I just don’t know why we can’t be our authentic selves. Eternally young and eternally beautiful is just so unreal. I do spend some time thinking about Clint Eastwood and so many actors, not actresses, who get to continue to kick butt. It’s not all I want to do, to be the action star, but I have started to really begin to understand how much I love doing action movies. It’s acting, for me, on such a complete level — so physical, so emotional— it’s all inclusive. You have to know your weapons and yourself and the way you move, while remembering your lines.
"I knew right away that the first thing some longtime fans may [think] is, 'Aw she looks so old' or 'Her arms aren’t the same.' But that is just human nature, now, everyone cares about the outside shells. I really don’t want to have anything to do with that. But one understands the immediate response will be: 'Holy shit, she’s so different.' But, in the end, I embraced that," Hamilton continued. "I know internally I have so much more experience and a rich life to pull from for Sarah Connor, so as long as I dug deep and bring out all of that. I woke up one day and said, 'OK, I am not what I was and I am not going to be what I was but I am so much more than what I was.' So, I explored that and everything else came from there. I can’t work for the fans. I am just going to dig my deepest and do what feels true to me." In order to get back into action-movie shape, Linda Hamilton began working with a trainer who primarily works with professional althletes. "He works with young, professional athletes and not 62 year-old women, but we worked really hard," Hamilton said. "There was pilates but there was also nutrition and physical therapy. I mean, I had a village. He owned my butt for an entire year; I didn’t eat carbohydrates for a year. We did our very best to see how we could pull Sarah Connor from my body." Based on everything we've seen from the upcoming Tim Miller film, that hard work has certainly paid off.
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE will hit theaters on November 1, 2019.