Linda Hamilton

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor makes it difficult to settle comfortably into James Cameron's sentiment. Her anger gives the danger a personal urgency that the script's explanations cannot supply. We found her unsettling because the anger never quite conceals how vulnerable Sarah is. Sarah is formidable, but she is not easy company. Hamilton gives us someone worth watching even when the film pauses to tell us what matters.

Her breakthrough as Sarah in The Terminator (1984) was followed by the television lead of Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast (1987–1989). The decisive turn towards action came with Terminator 2, for which she undertook intensive physical training. She also insisted on retaining a ponytail rather than shaving her head for the part. Her determination to keep Sarah's femininity is worth remembering alongside the physical transformation, particularly when the preparation receives so much of the attention.

Cameron gets particularly good work from her by giving that severity something to work against. Edward Furlong's less forbidding John Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger's awkward concern help the film earn much of its sentiment. Hamilton keeps those softer impulses from becoming too comfortable, though her performance cannot cure the overlong middle. The contrast between the three performances matters as much as the physical preparation: a less angry Sarah would make the reassurance come too cheaply.

Her later casting in tough or authoritative roles shows the risk of being so convincing at this particular job. Dante's Peak (1997), in which she plays Rachel Wando, was another film lead; Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) returned her to Sarah Connor. The limitation is in asking for toughness alone, when the frailty is what makes her worth returning to. Start with Terminator 2, and allow for a middle stretch that has rather more explaining to do than Hamilton does.