Terminator: Dark Fate's Linda Hamilton discusses revisiting Sarah Connor: "It was very painful"

Terminator: Dark Fate has finally reached UK cinemas, with the sequel to Terminator: Judgement Day bringing back Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Sarah Connor and T-800, respectively. While Schwarzenegger has been back multiple times as the killer robot, this marks the first time Hamilton has returned to the iconic role since T2, which debuted in 1991.

GamesRadar+ and Total Film met both actors just before the release of Dark Fate and asked the pair what surprised them most about returning to the parts. "I got so old," Hamilton said, having turned 63 the month prior. "It was daunting. Who is going to want to see this? I don't worry about audience response, but I was concerned about not letting the character of Sarah Connor down. I had to work that much harder, at my age, to kick butt in a whole new way."

The actress also discussed the difficulty of returning to a character who has, by the time Dark Fate takes place, gone through a lot of shit. "It was very painful," she said. "You have to reach deep and do that work. She's really a woman without a country. She still hates the machines and has that campaign of vengeance. But she's really not a fan of humankind either. She has shrunk to a very, very small and lonely place. And that's something I had to create and live with for a long time."

Terminator: Dark Fate is currently playing in UK cinemas and reaches US theatres November 1. Before you see the film, you may want to prepare yourself by reading our extensive Terminator timeline explained.

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.