wihm day 28/Linda Hamilton- The Terminator and T2

Linda Hamilton will forever be remembered as the iconic Sarah Connor in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Hamilton was in a few tv shows and movies before she got the role of Sarah Connor. She had just finished filming Children of the Corn when she auditioned for The Terminator. Her innocence and vulnerability were pivotal to her securing the part. The Terminator is about a woman who must reluctantly deal with the hand fate has dealt her. She will give birth to a son, John Connor, who will one day help the human race to survive in a dystopian future. Hamilton initially plays Connor with heart and soul; she’s a sweet girl who works in a restaurant and has a pet iguana – Pugsley. By the end of the movie that softness has given way to a hardness that will help her in the years to come.

In Terminator 2: Judgement Day – Sarah Connor is a 100% bad ass chick! Who will ever ever forget when you see her biceps of steel – strong enough to give Arnie a run for his money and a run for his money she gives him! T2 takes place 10 years in the future. Sarah has been trying to teach John what she thinks he needs to know and through circumstances winds up in a psychiatric hospital. The machines have sent another Terminator to try once again to execute John – this time with a more advanced version – the T-1000. Linda Hamilton physically transformed herself for the role. She underwent an extensive thirteen-week training regimen with personal trainer Anthony Cortes, training three hours a day, six days a week before principal photography began. The Sarah Connor of T2 is more experienced and tough. Her relationship with John has become tenuous as the result of carrying the burden of his future alone. She has become singularly focused and will stop at nothing to protect her son. She also receives help from an unlikely source.

I chose Linda Hamilton for day 28 of women in horror month because in my opinion, there is only one other character more badass than her in the genre – and that’s tomorrow’s blog.