The TV Addict 

Thomas Dekker, The TV Addict and Summer Glau in Los Angeles, August 2008

First the Television Critics Association Press Tour, then Comic Con and now the FOX Fall Press Junket, do you ever tire of talking about the TERMINATOR?
Thomas Dekker: It’s very lucky we’re in love with the show because if we weren’t…
Summer Glau: Sometimes things get blurry. People do tend to ask the same questions and it gets to the point where I almost don’t recognize anything that’s coming out of my mouth.

So you’re pretty much the TV equivalent of Presidential Candidates on the campaign trail. Is this a part of the business you enjoy? Doing the TERMINATOR ’stump speech’.
Thomas: I’ve strangely managed to coast along acting for fifteen years without doing much of this. But if it will help the show be seen then we’re happy to do it.

Well at the very least I’m sure you’ve gotten to visit some cool places promoting the show?
Thomas: Best trip ever [laughs].
Summer: We went to Australia.
Thomas: It was a wild week. We were in Australia just the two of us for a week.
Summer: We had a really good time, that was a crazy week.
Thomas: Yes, drunken beach photographs and all! [Click for some pics]
Summer: Germany
Thomas: We’re very popular in Europe.

Heading into tonight’s season premiere, you’ve [Thomas] made it pretty clear the last time we talked that John Connor is going to finally start to grow up this season. But Summer, we don’t seem to know so much about what’s in store for Cameron this season.
Summer: It’s a big question. The show picks up right after the explosion and things change. Cameron’s going to be a lot more complicated than before and there were clues in season one hinting about the possibility of what her agenda is.
Thomas: Sometimes they [robots] go bad and we don’t know why…

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Hoping to give fans a second chance to jump on the bandwagon, FOX has made the savvy decision to re-run the entire first season of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CHRONICLES this week.

And to celebrate two words that rarely find their way into a sentence together. You know, ‘FOX’ and ‘Savvy’ [seriously, will the bitterness over FIREFLY’s cancellation ever end?], this TV Addict thought today would be the perfect opportunity to run our recent conversation with TERMINATOR stars Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau. Who took a few minutes following their panel at the recent San Diego Comic Con to talk to the media.

Thomas Dekker: Hey, I love theTVAddict.com, how are you?

The TV Addict: I’m great thanks. You know, it would really help me out if you repeated “I love theTVaddict.com” [as I record it for posterity!]

Thomas Dekker: I love the TV addict. No really. You’ve given me some great coverage.

The TV Addict: I guess that’s what happens when I actually put your words in context and don’t make stuff up.

Thomas Dekker: It’s amazing. Usually I’ll say something and say ‘just kidding’ only to discover later on that whomever is interviewing me miraculously left out the ‘just kidding’ part. [See Milo/HaydenGate 2008]

Even though let’s face it, I could talk about your love for theTVaddict.com all day, we probably should get down to business [as I sense that some of my fellow journalists sitting across the table actually want to talk about the show!] Talk about John Connor growing some cajones this season?
Thomas Dekker: Thank the Lord finally. Last season I purposely wanted to play the role weak. Have John hide behind his hair like a weak kid, even though we [and by ‘we’ Dekker refers to himself and showrunner Josh Friedman] knew it would frustrate people who wanted to see this savior. So in the second season we’re going to see him emerge.

John doesn’t want to feel anymore. Especially after going through this huge ‘thing’ that I cannot disclose. Pretty much, a bunch of things will happen at the beginning of the season that completely change him. John’s a different person who learns that in a way, he will have to be a machine of himself.

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By: Kevin Kelly, Special TCA Correspondent

The full cast and crew were brought onto FOX’s stage, which was ominously bathed in red light for the occasion. Brian Austin Green, Garret Dillahunt, Leven Rambin, Thomas Dekker, Lena Headey, and of course, the Terminatrix Summer Glau herself. I only wish they would have had gleaming Terminator exoskeletons with piercing laser stares lining the stage to really complete the illusion.

Lena was asked about the nasty things fans had been saying (are still saying?) about her portrayal of Sarah Connor. According to producer James Middleton, fans responded to the “fire she brought to the role.” Personally, I’m interested to see what she does in season two, because I don’t think she had enough time to really get into the role that still feels like it belongs to Linda Hamilton. I don’t love her, don’t hate her, but I’m willing to wait on it. A bit.

James Middleton was asked about the challenges about working on the Terminator TV show, and the new Christian Bale Terminator movie coming out next May, and said that they both take “cues” from the original films, but that they take the orignal idea and go in two different directions. Each franchise is meant to live alone, and they’re buffeted by the idea that “fate is what you make it” - i.e. these could be different alternate realities for the different characters from Terminator.

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In an incredibly astute move, FOX has signed BATTLESTAR GALACTICA star Tricia Helfer to a one year holding deal.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Under the one-year pact, the actress will star in a series project for the network, probably a drama.”

Now far be it from this TV Addict to do the job of a FOX executive, although Lord knows I’d be really good at it! But why not put Helfer to good use while the powers that be search for the ideal starring vehicle for her? And by ‘good use’ we of course mean a guest starring match made in heaven.

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Since this TV Addict hasn’t had time to share my thoughts on Monday’s fantastic installment of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, I’m making amends by posting a first look at this Monday’s two-hour season finale.

Oh and dear readers [and by ‘readers’ I naturally mean executives at FOX]. Please note that Monday is TERMINATOR’s first SEASON finale. With emphasis on SEASON. I fully expect to be counting down the days until Connor and Co. continue the fight for the future in September 2008. Do not even think of pulling a DRIVE, PROFIT, REUNION, FIREFLY on me. Because the only thing scarier than an angry TV Addict. Is an angry TV Addict with the not-so-secret ability to build giant mechanical robots. Robots that are surprisingly adept at hunting down clueless Television executives. Don’t believe me? Just ask that guy who cancelled ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. [Cue maniacal laugh…]
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By: Jenny Rarden [Jenny’s TV Guide]

When the opportunity came up to speak with Summer Glau, I jumped at the chance. She played one of my favorite characters ever on one of the greatest shows ever on TV, River Tam on Firefly, which was cancelled after too few episodes. So I was thrilled to get to ask her not only about Firefly but about her new character and show, Cameron on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

If you haven’t seen the show, Cameron has a very robotic (which makes sense, as she IS a robot), deadpan delivery and attitude. When asked about the character’s persona and if that was hard to play her that way, Summer said,

Well, I always told Josh [Friedman, Executive Producer] it’s just me trying to be as honest as possible as Cameron. I never want to ask the audience to laugh at me because then it just doesn’t feel real, and so I just approach everything and try to be really sincere, as Cameron would be. She’s so – I think that is what is so funny about her is just that she can’t be anything but genuine. She’s very open, like a child. She absorbs the behavior around her and tries to understand it as best she can, and sometimes it ends up being extremely funny.

At the beginning, Summer had to always keep in mind that she was playing a character that wasn’t human. As she got more comfortable in the role, that was still hard but wasn’t quite as challenging.

I think that as you do a series, you do sort of become your character in a way, and it does get much more comfortable when you read a scene. You kind of have an idea of how you want to do it. Whereas when you first begin a role, you’re really exploring it and you’re making big decisions about how you want to play her. But at this point, I think all of us in the cast have really gotten comfortable with how our characters would react in a certain situation.

But I would say that the hardest part is still looking at my scene partner who might be, you know, spilling their guts to me or crying or yelling, and I can’t give anything back. You know, I mean I’m always giving something. I’m always giving energy back to my scene partner, but I can’t respond in a way that I would if I was playing a human. That never quite feels natural to me.

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Summer Glau with the TV Addict

Not being a card carrying member of the Browncoats (the FIREFLY fandom, for those not familiar with the Whedon universe), this TV Addict had no idea what he was in store for when Summer Glau’s Cameron crossed paths with a young John Conner on FOX’s newest hit show TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. Yet the moment Cameron uttered the iconic line, “Come with me if you want to live.” Summer Glau erased all doubts and flawlessly stepped into the metallic shoes made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Recently, the TV Addict, along with BuddyTV’s Oscar Dahl had the opportunity to interview Summer at the FOX Winter press junket in Hollywood. Here’s what she had to say with regards to her new role, the SCI FI fandom and the surreal experience of seeing your face on posters everywhere.

The TV Addict: It was great fun watching the pilot on the big screen last night, was it the first time you’ve seen it??
Summer Glau: It is the first time I’ve seen it completed. It was really interesting for me. The thing that I liked seeing was, you know, when you shoot a show it’s all out of sequence, so when they put it together I liked how my character seemed to switch on and off from doing the school scenes in the beginning, then how she changes once her alias is blown, she just changes. I thought that was cool.??

The TV Addict: What attracted you to the role in the first place? Were you concerned at all that you’re very enmeshed in the sci-fi world with FIREFLY and ThE 4400, did that concern you a little moving on to another sci-fi show?
I didn’t think I’d get this part, so I didn’t worry about it that much. I went to the audition thinking I’ll just go in and I’ll do it. I never thought that they would consider me for this role, and then when they did I thought oh my goodness, I feel like I won the lottery, of course I’m going to do it. I love playing this part. I’ve never really thought much about sci-fi or not sci-fi. I always consider the role. If it’s a role I want to play, I play it. I’ve turned down roles that weren’t sci-fi because they weren’t interesting characters and they weren’t something that I wanted to do, so this was definitely something that I wanted to do.??

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Summer Glau Signs Autographs for Fans

To whet your appetite until the TV Addict can post his own far more exciting pics and videos from last night’s TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES launch party (translation: photos that include him!), please enjoy some “official” photos courtesy of FOX.

Summer Glau, Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker

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If there’s one thing we’ve learned in almost two years of running theTVaddict.com, it’s that there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. With that in mind, we present more candid pics of stars Summer Glau, Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker from the set of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. Premiering this January 3, 2008 on FOX.

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This just in! Enjoy some behind-the-scenes photos emailed to theTVaddict.com directly from a PA [that’s Production Assistant for those unfamiliar with the Hollywood lingo] on the set of FOX’s new series TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. For more Summer Glau and Lena Headey goodness, click the link below.

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