Interview: Lena Headey (Sarah Connor) and James Middleton Speak!

"Sarah Connor" Lena Headey as well as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles executive producer James Middleton spoke with the press today, and we have highlights of what they had to say here at TerminatorSite!

Inside, they talk about connections to the movie series, what the strike may mean for Season 1, an animated Terminator project, and much more. So what are you waiting for? Let's get started!

A popular question that Ms. Headey received (perhaps too often) is about her the inevitable comparison associated with taking on such an iconic role that was created in the first two Terminator films by Linda Hamilton. "I take from the movies, what is undeniable: Which is her strength, and an instinct, and just an absolute sense of wrong and right that's ingrained in her. And then on top of that, you throw in the unusual circumstance she's in. So I think it's a very potent mix of emotion and depth. Also, I get to be more emotional; you see more of her relationship with John and other human beings, so different in that way. We just come in a different physical wrapping."

"Hopefully people will embrace what I bring to Sarah and kind of see it with fresh eyes," she continues. Headey is also enthusiastic to see her character's growth. "I think [there are] ongoing layers of evolution," Headey says. "I think her relationship with John is reaching new depths. She's learning to be a mother, she's learning what it is to live like this. It's now a complete realization of what's going on."

The film Terminator 3 revealed a different fate for Sarah Connor; one where she passed away prior to the movie's start. James Middleton talks about how mortality affects Sarah. Sarah is always concerned about her mortality, from the standpoint that she worries [that] if she dies, will her work be done? In terms of our show, the premise of our pilot establishes that we really move away from Terminator 3. We create a whole new timeline; a different future, really... a new fate for Sarah. So the series is really going to be informed more by Terminator 2: Judgement Day than by Terminator 3."

Middleton was involved as a producer on Terminator 3, and was asked if it affected him to take on a new project that deviated from the film. "No it didn't, because I was so interested in bringing Sarah Connor back. That was really the priority for me. And to make her character relevant to a new audience in 2008. So, while I enjoyed working on Terminator 3 and it was a worldwide commercial success and it was a lot of fun, I completely embraced the idea that through something established in the mythology, time travel, we could create an entirely new storyline and timeline for Sarah Connor herself."

Middleton is also a producer on the Terminator 4 film which is planned for 2009, and was asked if the Sarah Connor Chronicles and the movie will affect one another. "I think that they will, naturally, cross promote each other," he says, "but in terms of narrative timelines, what we've done with the television show is create an entirely new timeline. So we will be following Sarah's journey through a different timeline. It's a completely new expression of the franchise in that way, by Josh Friedman."

"I think that, having seen all of the episodes of the show, that it is a completely involving narrative on its own, and I think that people will appreciate both what's happening in the Sarah Connor Chronicles and what would happen in Terminator 4," he continues.

Regarding the upcoming film, Middleton reveals that Terminator 4 is slated to begin production in late April, with McG directing, and Christian Bale starring. He also has another Terminator-related project in the works. "I'm also working on an animation project called Termination, which will utilize anime and anime auteurs to do individual segments inspired by the Terminator franchise," he reveals.

When asked about comparisons to The Animatrix, Middleton revealed that this project will have a much more international flair. "This idea of Judgement Day is not something that would just affect Los Angeles; it would affect the world, and so we'll have European animators as well as Japanese anime masters."

Read Part 2 of this interview!

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