New Summer Glau Interview

[laneconnor]

I just posted it over at MOAD.com but still wanted to give you guys the heads up.

WC 08: Exclusive Interview - Terminator's Summer Glau
We talk to the Terminator herself about Monday's Sarah Connor season finale and more.
by Eric Goldman

February 29, 2008 - Like most series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was affected by the now concluded writers' strike, as only nine of the intended 13 episodes were shot for the first season. But the episodes that have been completed have quickly proven to be exciting and involving and at WonderCon last weekend, actress Summer Glau, who plays the Terminator named Cameron on the series, joined co-stars Thomas Dekker and Brian Austin Green, along with executive producers / showrunners John Wirth and Josh Friedman (who developed the show) onstage before an enthusiastic audience. During the panel, it was clear that the appreciative crowd loved the series and hoped to see more of it in the fall.

I spoke to Glau shortly before the panel began, to find out what it's been like seeing the reaction to Sarah Connor so far, what she thinks of her complicated character and to get any info I could on this Monday's two-hour season (not series; right FOX?!) finale.


IGN: Last time we spoke, it was on the picket line. I'm very glad to see you under happier circumstances.

Glau: I know, I'm so relieved.

IGN TV: It's great to see Josh [Friedman] here.

Glau: I know. It was so hard! It felt like not having your dad at home when we were on set without him [during the strike]. We were kind of hoping we were doing things the way he would want. It was really hard.

IGN TV: It was nice to see him at the premiere of the show [which occurred during the strike].

Glau: Yeah. It meant a lot to the actors that he came. I know that he was trying to be really strong and follow his instincts on coming to work, but that was such a big celebration for us to get together and see it. So I'm really glad that he was there.

IGN TV: This is the first time I've talked to you about the show since it launched. What's it been like seeing the reaction to it?

Glau: It's been such a joy. We worked on it for a really long time before anyone had seen it, so there was a lot of built up anticipation on our part. We were hoping that everyone was going to love it as much as we did. And again, I just can't believe how positive everyone's been and how people recognize me. For some reason, I feel like since I'm playing a robot people won't recognize me when they see me in real life. [Laughs].

Everyone's been so nice, even people at the airport today, encouraging me about the show. The other day I was turning right on the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura and there were people walking across the crosswalk and this one woman stopped and I smiled at her and waved her by. She stops and [mimes a surprised look and points]. She started clapping and gave me thumbs up! I was like, "Yeah, I'm just a real girl that drives on Ventura Blvd!" It's funny.

IGN TV: Your character is so fascinating, because she has a lot going on and a lot of lines she's going back and forth between. I imagine it must be pretty difficult to play, because there's still a lot we don't know about her.

Glau: It is difficult. I didn't want to take the easy out and play just a robot, and I didn't also want to just play her as human, because she's both. And it's unclear now if she's just a master manipulator or if she really is so advanced that she might actually be able to develop human feelings. At this point, it's a mystery to me and it's just a mystery to the audience, and I want everyone to be constantly guessing. I think there are moments when she's shockingly cold that I want the audience to be really disappointed [about]. I want them to look at her and wish that she almost could feel something. So it's a fine line and I try not to get too comfortable with how I'm playing her, because I always want to be thinking, "How is the smartest way to approach this scene?"

IGN TV: In the episode "Dungeons & Dragons" we got much more direct inferences that maybe she really isn't a good guy. Did that surprise you when you read it or was it something you were given a heads up to beforehand?

Glau: I wasn't really surprised. I think that it's important that she not just be kind of like a pet. She's dangerous. Even though she seems very open and childlike and it seems that she really does love John, I always want that looming danger. So I was really happy about that episode. I think that it's cool.

IGN TV: One of my favorite scenes of yours on the show so far was with the guidance counselor, when he asks about the girl who killed herself.


Glau: Oh yeah!

IGN TV: You did that really cool thing, where he asks what's the last thing she said, and instead of just repeating the words, you actually do an impression of her.

Glau: Yeah, I asked if I could do that. I asked the director, "Can I just mimic her?" Because I was in that scene and I saw her do it, so it was really fun.

IGN TV: You have this menacing aspect and obviously also do a lot of action scenes. Is it nice to also get to explore the very strange fish out of water dynamic with Cameron in high school?

Glau: Yeah. Thomas [Dekker] and I were both home schooled, so it is kind of crazy for us to be going to high school. I still kind of feel like I'm the outsider, because I don't fit in, you know? But I think it's a great addition to the storyline that these kids are trying to sort of fit in and be normal.

IGN TV: Can you give any hints on the season finale and where the show is heading?

Glau: it is a cliffhanger. It is a cliffhanger! Believe me, we didn't know at the time that it was going to be our last episode of the season and I'm so impatient, because I know what was coming next! Because we already had four more episodes to shoot.

IGN TV: Oh, and they'd told you what was going to happen next?


Glau: Yeah. So I am itching to get back to work, because the next episode after our cliffhanger was going to be phenomenal.

[Erika]

The human robot - Summer Glau Interview

By : FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN

Actress Summer Glau gives the lowdown on her role as the female terminator with a twist in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

IN the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, currently aired over AXN (Astro Channel 701), Summer Glau plays the role of Cameron Philips, a far advanced Terminator model who puts the earlier versions to shame — yes, even the two Arnold Schwarzenegger prototypes. Her version eats and mimics human’s mannerisms perfectly. She speaks like the next girl, without the identifiable monotonic voice that other terminators are known for, and bleeds as well. Here, Glau speaks to reporters during an interview in Sydney, Australia.

Question: How has the journey been so far?

Answer: It has been very positive. There was a long time there where we were nervous because we had been making the show for almost a year before anyone had seen it. So we felt very rested and very protective of the story. Now that it has come out, we couldn’t be more pleased with the response.

Q: Are you a fan of the movie versions?

A: I knew of them. Everybody knows Terminator in the States. It is on different channels. Everybody knows something about it. I hadn’t seen the films all the way through. Once I was cast in the role, my dad rented all the movies for me, and I watched them. They were everything I thought they would be and more.

Q: You are stepping into really big shoes with the role.

A: Yeah, I know. Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger are synonymous. It would be hard if we were trying to recreate a character like him. If we were trying to get some huge man with an accent to play the new Terminator, I think it wouldn’t work. So they went as far away from it as they could and got me. It’s different. I think it was a smart decision because no one should mess with Arnold. He should be left alone.

Q: Thomas said he got injured quite a lot. How was it for you?

A: Everybody gets hurt. I burnt my face. You see in the pilot episode that I have a red scar on my face from one of the shells popping back from the gun. It seared through my skin and then it was stuck and I pulled it off. I was in the shooting range with Joel Cramer, who is our stunt co-ordinator. I said “Oh, Joel”. And I pulled it off, and he looked at me and he goes, “Oh, you’re fine”. We went back to shooting in half an hour or something, and we were done. It was fun. I loved it. But my face was burning. So I went to the bathroom and my face is bleeding! He came out and we were walking out and he said, “We probably shouldn’t call the studio and tell them about that.” Then when we got to set, I remember the make-up artist went to David Nutter who was our director on the pilot and asked “What should we do about Summer’s scar?” He said: “Leave it. She’s not supposed to be perfect. She’s supposed to look like a real girl.”

Q: You are not a stranger to physical actions. You did it in Firefly (a short-lived sci-fi TV series), and now you’re doing it here.

A: They (the producers) were looking for a normal girl who doesn’t look suspicious. The whole idea is that it is more dangerous if you can’t see it coming. She is an undercover bodyguard so she goes with John Connor everywhere, and she is supposed to be able to pose as his friend, his girlfriend, his sister, and so I fit that mould pretty well. After my first test for the role, I was sitting in the waiting room and I heard them watching my fight scenes from Serenity (her 2005 futuristic film), and that’s what I think tipped me over the edge. They thought, “Okay, maybe she can pull this off.”

Q: Do you take any martial arts?

A: I don’t think I have ever worked that hard in my life, and I have seen a lot coming from being a ballet dancer. I think ballet dancers are the meanest, toughest things in the world. They sent me to fight camp six months before we filmed Serenity. I learned wushu — extremely beautiful but it is hard on your body. I did that, and I did some kung-fu and kickboxing. When I met Joel Cramer (the stunts co-ordinator for Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles), I said to him: “OK, so what kind of things do you want me to do? I will go back to training.” He said: “Well, Summer, I’ve seen some of your work and, wow, it was good, but Terminators, they just break things and they pick things up and throw them, and shoot guns and walk through walls, and it can be a lot different to what you have done before.” I was so relieved. “Thank you, Joel.”

Q: What is Thomas like to work with?

A: I think we’re a good team. We’re opposites. It constantly makes us laugh. We are a very small cast with only three of us who are there all the time, and our hours are so long. I get there at 4am and I won’t leave until 8 or 9pm. That is just barely enough time to go home and sleep and come back again. There are days when you think you are going to lose your mind because you are so tired. You just want to go home, no matter how much you love your job, or how much you love the role. Thomas and Lena (Heady, as Sarah Connor) make me laugh, and that is the greatest therapy when you have been sitting there for 10 hours.

Q: Thomas told us that the show looks serious, but it’s actually a laugh factory behind the scenes.

A: Oh, you wouldn’t believe. I could sell a series called “Thomas’ early morning rehearsal”. Well, Thomas always picks some other characters with some strange accents. One day we had this one character and he had to wear an oxygen bag with the little tubes, and we were all in there waiting. “Where is Thomas?” He wheels in the oxygen tank, the whole thing with the oxygen on. He is so much fun.

Q: Can you compare Lena Headey’s interpretation of Sarah Connor character as to Linda Hamilton’s way of doing it?

A: Linda Hamilton is an icon in her own right. She is an action hero in her own right, like Arnold is. A lot of people are saying: “Well, Lena doesn’t look like Linda Hamilton.” I think that is really silly, and that is not the spirit of the film. I think that Lena acts from her gut, and she is so passionate, and she has depth. Knowing her the way I do, she is the kind of woman that you want her on your team. She is a tough, tough cookie, but her vulnerability and her emotions are captivating. I think if people give her the chance, they are going to be blown away by her performance.

Q: The women in this show are quite powerful, both you and Lena. Do you feel empowered by playing her?

A: Definitely. I always look for roles that make me feel good about being a girl. I have to say that there are a lot of roles out there that make me feel really bad about being a girl. When I am reading the script I say, “This is not a film that is going to make me feel good at the end of the day.”

Q: What appeals to you about this character?

A: I have played very vulnerable emotional characters so far in my career. I thought it was awesome to be the girl on the scene who is not crying or falling apart. I love the action. The only hard thing is, being a scene partner for my fellow actors, I can’t give anything back (as the emotionless Terminator). I always think Lena is going to come over and hit me after we’re done with the scene because in the scenes where she spills her guts out, I just stare at her blankly. I feel so bad. That is the most uncomfortable thing about playing the role.

Q: I notice when you do the action scene, especially when you are running, you are not breathing or anything.

A: It is hard. One of the things that I tried to incorporate from the very beginning was even making a blink deliberate — more slowly so that it looks more like a robot. Also she wouldn’t talk with her hands, move her hair out of her face or cross her legs. All these little things I have to strip away. She is an infiltrator and she isn’t supposed to appear human, so everything has to have something deliberate.

Q: What prototype is she?

A: She is the most advanced model so far, but I know there’s some discussions about what model she is, and what they call her, but I don’t know.

Note: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles airs at 10pm every Tuesday over AXN (Astro Channel 701). The writer’s trip was made possible by AXN.

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