Inside The Sarah Connor Chronicles
By Francine Brokaw
Source: MovieWeb

In The Terminator and Terminator 2 movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger uttered his famous line, “I’ll be back.” Well, Arnold might not be back as the Terminator, but the story is and will focus on the life of Sarah Connor and her son John. The Sarah Connor Chronicles begins at the conclusion of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The series follows Sarah and John as they run from the law and also their enemies while trying to destroy Skynet. Lena Headley stars as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as John, and Summer Glau as Cameron, the newest Terminator who is a far cry from the Schwarzenegger incarnation. The pilot is filled with all the drama, suspense, and special effects that made the films popular, and the stars hope the public embraces their stories on the small screen.

“I adore Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I don’t know if I’m going to be much like him,” says Glau. “I spoke to Josh (Friedman, Executive Producer) a lot about how he wanted my Terminator to be. And I think that the way that we’re going to make my Terminator the most advanced model so far is in her human traits. She’s going to be the most human Terminator so far, so that’s what I’m striving for.” She adds, “I was really, really excited that Josh gave me the opportunity to try this role, and that’s something that is going to be the most challenging part about her, I think, is that I want people to be able to relate to her and in some way see themselves in her just like I try with all my characters, and I’m really excited about it.” As for a catch phrase ala Schwarzenegger, Glau grins and says, “I’m still working on it.”

In the films, Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor, and really beefed up for the part. Headley comments that as yet she hasn’t gone that far, but is on a workout schedule to add bulk to her body for the future. “I’m in training and just doing regular workouts. I think you have to have somewhere to go. You know what I mean?” she jokes. “This series is going to develop and, I think, along with that, so will her physicality, because we find them at a different point.”

“I grew up really, really hooked on these films,.” says Dekker. “They are like my favorite films when I was younger. So it’s very ironic that I’m getting to do this. And I know for the younger generation and for myself, John was equally important to me as Sarah was, and I know a lot of the people that I hear from really, really care about John. The way I kind of went about John was, obviously, I knew how he was played very well in the movies. I felt I really knew that character. Then what I’m trying to do is that I think where we are in the series, John’s life is constantly evolving, and John’s life in the series is evolved a lot from where it was in the films. So, you know, he’s having to hide. He’s having to keep his head down; whereas, in the beginning of T2:, he’s able to keep his head up, he’s carefree, and I think he’s had to close down a lot more. He’s having to wake up to the fact that this won’t go away, and he has to really step up to the plate. So I’m trying to incorporate the main characteristics and emotional core of what was there in the films while adjusting it to his current time and place that we’re seeing in the series. So he’s a little quieter, and he’s a little more pensive.”

In the pilot the characters have to travel through time to outrun their enemies. The timeline of the movie ended in the late 1990′s and the pilot in the series has the characters jumping to the current time. “The decision to leap forward is a both an aesthetic one,” comments Josh Friedman, “and, I think, story-wise will turn out to be an important one. There are reasons to come to this specific time, this specific place. It’s a show that’s about – it was about time travel, but not a time travel show. And I think certainly we will see characters, both human and less so, returning from the future to the present. There are no plans right now to jump anyone to the future.”

The question on everyone’s mind is whether Schwarzenegger will make an appearance on the show. “We’ve talked a lot of about it, but the reality is that, as governor, he’s incredibly busy. As a star, you know, and as an actor he’s incredibly expensive,” says Friedman. “So we have great preference for him, but we don’t know. We just don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to do any guest (spots).”

At this time, The Sarah Connor Chronicles is schedules for a mid-season premier on FOX.