Some of the rowdiest panels at any convention (and sometimes the most interesting) are group panels. When you get a group of celebrities together, especially ones that may not have seen each other in a while, it's almost guaranteed hijinks will ensue. And they did at Saturday's Terminator panel featuring Michael Biehn, Robert Patrick, Linda Hamilton, and a very old Lance Henriksen - who was also connected to Xfiles through Millennium. And in this case, it wasn't just a Terminator reunion, but a reunion for several other iconic shows given the guest list.
I grew up in the ‘90s, so Terminator and Terminator 2 (T2) were huge parts of my childhood. The Terminator panel was a must-see. With the combination of Lance Henriksen and Robert Patrick it was a potential X-Files panel, too. Lance Henriksen and Michael Biehn were also in Aliens together–a topic that came up at least once.
Don’t meet your heroes, I guess. Or in this case don’t sit through a panel with them.
I couldn’t help but get the impression that Lance Henriksen barely knew where he was while Robert Patrick and Michael Biehn give off the impression that they’ve spent their careers trying to avoid fans.
Linda Hamilton was great, however.
Perhaps I’m not being fair, as even celebrities have their bad days–they’re people,too... But when Linda Hamilton sat herself between Robert Patrick and Michael Biehn after the latter two got into a verbal sparring match, I wanted to crawl into my own body from second hand embarrassment. As cool as the T-1000 fighting Kyle Reese sounds to my inner child, it was a cringey display of small dick masculinity. They even kept arguing behind Linda Hamilton as she was trying, in earnest, to answer questions from the crowd.
I guess the tone of the panel was sort of set right at the beginning as the emcee asked the panelists “what is the coolest or weirdest Terminator-related thing you’ve signed?” and Lance Henriksen blurted out “a breast!” and while the crowd and emcee nervously chuckled he added “it’s true!” That pretty much ended that answer, and the questions went to the floor.
One of the interesting insights that the cast provided–and one I hadn’t considered as a kid–was that the Terminator franchise wasn’t an overnight blockbuster success. It was a “slow burn” as described by Michael Biehn. Biehn gave some insight into where Terminator was in the cultural zeitgeist during the year of its release: (The Terminator) was 21st at the box office in 1985 and Ghostbusters, Karate Kid–there were a lot of movies that were big hits and Terminator wasn’t one of them.”
Robert Patrick got a chance to talk about his portrayal of the T-1000, and the groundbreaking work that went into the making of T2. “When the tow truck exploded, that was a very challenging day. Very complex day. And that was that day that James actually said to me “hey man, you gotta relax because we’re making movie history here, and we don’t know what we’re doing but it’s gonna be great.”
Linda Hamilton took some time to talk about her status as an icon of feminine strength. She said, “You don’t know where a movie role is going to lead you seven years later. But I’ll take the mantle that people have put on me, and be very grateful for it.” Despite her insistence that she chanced into icon status, Linda Hamilton’s portrayal of Sarah Connor was iconic–but it could have been different. James Cameron wanted Sarah Connor to have short hair, but Hamilton pushed back. “The fact that (Sarah Connor) was able to remain feminine, and she was able to kick ass. You know what I mean? She doesn’t have to look like a guy to be strong,” later adding, “let’s just put (my hair) into a ponytail and be done. And I think that paved the way for a sort of global appeal. It was an accident of timing, too. The world was ready to see a strong woman.”
Despite how humble she is, there’s no arguing that Sarah Connor wouldn’t have been an icon without Linda Hamilton’s portrayal.
There's never a dull moment at Fan Expo Chicago and if you haven't already, check out our cosplay galleries and other writeups from celebrity panels starring Mark Hamill, Charlie Cox, Rosario Dawson and more!
Really rude the way some of this is described. I was lucky enough to meet Lance Henriksen at this event and he was one of the most gentle and attentive people I've met in my life. Completely alert and engaged in everything around him. I'm really disappointed by this whole article and I wish more care was taken to have empathy for such kind and humble entertainers. These aren't multi-millionaires; they're talented, working actors who have been answering the same questions for 30 years.