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When the first Terminator movie debuted in 1984, Linda Hamilton became a big screen icon almost overnight: As Sarah Connor, she transformed from helpless to heroine, a buff badass who would stop at nothing to save her son even if it meant becoming an outlaw. Thirty-five years later, Hamilton returns to the character for Terminator: Dark Fate, a film that challenged her mentally and physically. Glamour spoke with the actress about getting into fighting shape at 62, her relationship with her body, and battling to give Sarah Connor the story she deserves.
I have never been about what’s on the outside, ever. I’m uncomfortable with makeup on—I only put it on when I work. I don’t really even use moisturizer. I just don’t care. I’m proud to be my age. I keep saying: Why does 40 have to be the new 60? Why can’t 60 be the new 60? Why do we have to color everything with this idea of eternal youth?
Still, prepping for Terminator now versus 30 years ago were very different experiences. One assumes that you put in the same amount of time and work, and you’ll get the same result. But that doesn’t happen with a 62-year-old body. I first thought: I’m going to go right back and be the same person. But you need hormones to build muscles, and I can’t do it in the same way anymore. I realized I just had to work a different way. Thankfully, I had a fantastic trainer and team who helped me prepare. We worked for a year to get ready. We really focused on moving the body, like pilates, and not just static pumping weights. I didn’t touch carbohydrates for a year. But eventually, I just said: This is who I am, and this is who Sarah Connor is.
Then, when I showed up for my first wardrobe fitting, they literally had to add ass. Isn’t that funny? You work your butt off, and then they’re like, you need more butt. I never saw that coming. In my regular life, I like to have more butt. I work out. But I also enjoy sitting on the couch and eating pie sometimes, so I try not to live in a rigid world that I can’t have treats. I just like to keep it all in balance.
