Emilia Clarke Takes on Sarah Connor Role in ‘Terminator Genisys’

An undeniably talented actress, Emilia Clarke has garnered the attention of audiences for her pivotal performances and intriguing beauty. In 2013, Clarke received an Emmy Award nomination her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen (or the Mother of Dragons) on HBO’s hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” based on the bestselling novels by George R.R. Martin.

To take on the iconic character of Sarah Connor, the filmmakers of Paramount Pictures’ “Terminator Genisys” chose Emilia Clarke for the role. “We go back a long way,” smiles director Alan Taylor, clearly happy to be working with his “Game of Thrones” star again.

Producer David Ellison interjects, “We all love `Game of Thrones,’ and there is a strength, and a sense of honor and nobility to Emilia—those are things that can’t be taught. You either have them or you don’t. I think those attributes work perfectly for Sarah Connor, whom I consider a seminal female heroine in cinema.”

Clarke echoes her colleagues when she says, “Arnold is the first thing that comes to mind when you say ‘Terminator,’ and you can’t do it without him. Probably what I love the most about this script is the relationship between the Guardian, played by Arnold, and Sarah. It’s the heart. It’s beautiful. We get to see his character in this whole other gorgeous light. Watching her all this time has kind of softened him—except, of course, when people have tried to kill her. That hasn’t softened him at all!”

While the guardianship of Sarah has had an effect on the Guardian, the Guardian’s presence has also affected Sarah. Co-star Jason Clarke feels, “Emilia brings a strength in femininity—the Sarah we pick up now is different. She didn’t have to grow up without a strong parental presence. I think there’s a bit more confidence in the woman, not just the paranoia of knowing there’s a future out there that’s trying to end her existence. There’s a bit more ‘girl about town’ that I think helps—you can see her truly start to fall in love with Kyle Reese.”

The weeks prior to the start of principal photography for “Terminator Genisys” saw Emilia Clarke entering the arena of training—the very physical shooting schedule included stunts, fights, heavy wirework and…weapons.

Clarke jokes, “Yeah, there was training every day with guns, lots of guns, and then some more guns, and then a few more guns thrown in. I didn’t know anything about guns before this film, and now, well, I know a lot about guns! Since I had done some stunt work before, they also had me preparing, to get a physical understanding of what was going to be needed. This Sarah was brought up by a Terminator to be a warrior, so she has a huge body of knowledge when it comes to fighting and survival. So a lot of what was done was to help me feel comfortable embodying that part of Sarah, always being prepared. I worked with an amazing military advisor, and a weapons specialist, and then stunts and just physical training.”

Paramount Pictures presents the action-thriller “Terminator Genisys” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons Matthew Smith, and Byung-hun Lee.

In the film, when John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including a new T-800 terminator, the Guardian (Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

Opening across the Philippines on July 01, “Terminator Genisys” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.