There are so many stories about how James Cameron’s The Terminator got made that it’s almost hard to find something new that people haven’t already heard. The same could be said about its epic sequel, the legendary action movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, as the 1991 follow-up is one of those rare cases where the successor blew away its wildly popular forebearer. However, a new Netflix series has provided some fresh perspective on both films, showcasing how both Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger surprised their acting partner in pretty huge ways while making both movies.
How Arnold Schwarzenegger Surprised Linda Hamilton On The Terminator
During the second episode of the Netflix docu-series Arnold, Schwarzenegger’s journey into acting is described in great detail. A huge part of that story is, of course, his casting in The Terminator, a movie in which he was originally considered to play Kyle Reese against a potential T-800 played by O.J. Simpson.
History saw a much different result take place, which put Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of the cybernetic killing machine from the future. To him, it was a pretty big leap forward for his acting career. But to Linda Hamilton, the role of Sarah Connor was as unassuming as her new co-star. Here’s how Hamilton was surprised by The Terminator, with the help of Schwarzenegger’s performance:
It was truly just another job. I didn’t think it was particularly greater than other scripts that I’d read. I mean, really clueless. It was a very low budget, and we were all rather new at it. I definitely had my doubts. By our snotty definition, Arnold was a poser. Bodybuilder pretending to be an actor. But because I was curious, I went and stood off to the sidelines watching Arnold. And I bought it. The physicality and the stiffness and all of the things that he was implementing. I was like, ‘Okay, this might work.’
The Terminator would go on to become a massive hit and influence sci-fi movies to come for decades. Part of this was due to the fact that Schwarzenegger's portrayal of the titular killer was as harrowing and convincing as Hamilton had said.
In the more immediate aftermath of the 1984 smash success, a sequel would find its way into theaters eight years later. Upon its arrival in theaters, Terminator 2: Judgment Day would blow moviegoers minds with the twists it would introduce into the saga.
Meanwhile, it would be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s turn to be surprised when it came time to make the next chapter of Terminator lore. As it turned out, James Cameron was holding back a surprise involving Linda Hamilton and her transformation for the return as Sarah Connor.
The Terminator 2 Dinner Where Linda Hamilton Make Arnold Schwarzenegger Jealous
At the end of The Terminator, it’s teased that the now-pregnant Sarah Connor isn’t the same sweet and innocent waitress we saw at the beginning of her fateful night from hell. Terminator 2 only confirmed that assumption, as Linda Hamilton’s character was now a no-nonsense soldier with weapons training and a jacked physique.
Before audiences would even catch wind of that twist, James Cameron got to shock Arnold Schwarzenegger with that reveal in a more intimate setting. Here’s how Schwarzenegger revealed his reaction, including a hilarious streak of jealousy:
A few days before we start, Jim Cameron says to me, ‘Let’s all get together and have a nice dinner.’ Linda [Hamilton] comes in, and she takes her sweater off, and I’m looking at her arms. Veins on the biceps, and then the triceps. Everything was like a bodybuilder, except miniature. … I said, ‘I can’t believe that son of a bitch is fucking more cut than me.’
That bodybuilder figure was the result of some insane training on Linda Hamilton's part. Behind-the-scenes trivia for Terminator 2: Judgment Day revealed that the franchise stalwart had actually trained with a former Israeli soldier as part of her preparation. So naturally, with that intense of a regimen, there was going to be some very physical work that had to come with it.
The end result was Sarah Connor becoming one of the greatest female action characters of all time. What's even better is the fact that Hamilton made quite the admission of pride during her part of the Arnold documentary, which is now available to anyone with a Netflix subscription. In short, but sweet fashion, Ms. Hamilton smiled and expressed as much with the following statement:
I do remember the fierce pride that I had to show to Arnold.
The rest, as they say, is history. Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger would later re-team for 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, a picture that proved just how cut out both actors were for their iconic roles. Without those surprises in the earlier days of the series, who knows how history would have panned out for James Cameron’s creation? All anyone knows is that no matter what people say about the sequels past Terminator 2, that first two movies were iconic beyond measure.
