Interviews
Gabriel Luna Explains Why It Was Important to Honor Robert Patrick’s Iconic T-1000 Run [Interview]
Audiences may not be flocking to Terminator: Dark Fate, but they’re missing out on a great sci-fi sequel that smartly updates the Terminator mythos to the present day, while honoring the original James Cameron classics. Some of the homages are obvious, but some might only be visible to eagle-eyed super fans.
For example, did you notice that the new killer robot, the Rev-9, brings back Robert Patrick’s trademark run from Terminator 2? Last week Bloody-Disgusting talked to actor Gabriel Luna about why it was important, as a new part-liquid metal, part old school Terminator villain, to take Patrick’s performance, combine it with Schwarzenegger’s, and make it all his own.
“I wanted to honor [Robert Patrick’s] performance. There were obvious similarities in the characters, so there should be obvious threads that interweave in all of our performances. It should run through all of us,” Gabriel Luna said.
“It starts with Arnold, this T-800, this big tank of a man, this incredible physical presence. I wanted to grow my body to be strong and imposing, to be able to stand there with him and to be a formidable opponent,” Luna continued. “And then I would be running in this film, and I would, as a fan, try to size up what I look like in a dead sprint and what Robert looks like.”
“So I was very focused on that. It should be a sprinter’s run. It should be very efficient and very tight. The hands open, the way sprinters run. The head tilted in pursuit. All of that was there with Robert, so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, man. Just incorporate that and weave it into what you’re doing,” Luna added.
“And then on top of that, I had my own particular skill set, to not quote Liam Neeson. ‘I have a very particular set of skills,’” Luna said, mimicking the scene from Taken.”
“And you know, I just wanted to be in attack mode, just be a fucking runaway train. That’s what he is when I run that gauntlet in the detention facility, when I’m running after the chopper, when I’m underwater attacking the Humvee. Everything is forward, everything is sharp,” Luna added.
“But also… it should be sharp and efficient like the T-1000, just beefier and heavier like the T-800, and then just wrap all that together and then layer myself on top of it. Layer my natural human behaviors in all the encounters, human encounters, because I think that’s an important element of him. His ability to ingratiate himself with the Texas Rangers, to charm that woman with the laundry, to smile at her father when he sees him for the first time and try to put him, try to get the information he needs. That was the cherry on top of the whole thing,” Luna said, harkening back to an earlier part of our interview, in which he called the Rev-9 “the Ted Bundy of Terminators.”
If you haven’t seen Gabriel Luna’s performance in Terminator: Dark Fate, you might want to consider it now, before the underperforming but well-reviewed film leaves theaters, and your chance to see it on the big screen is gone… possibly forever.
Interviews
“Chucky” – Zackary Arthur, Bjorgvin Arnarson, and Alyvia Alyn Lind on Working with John Waters & Brad Dourif
Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Chucky” Season 3.
The “Chucky” Season 3 finale, “Final Destination,” picked up with Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) venturing deep into the spirit realm for the sole purpose of finding where Chucky (Brad Dourif) may be hiding Lexy’s (Alyvia Alyn Lind) younger sister. As Lexy and Devon (Bjorgvin Arnarson) guarded his body, Jake confronted the ghosts of his past, including many, many iterations of Chucky. That led to Jake falling straight into Chucky’s trap, with the serial killer using his counterparts to distract him while he hijacked Jake’s body.
Bloody Disgusting spoke with Arthur, Arnarson, and Lind about the season finale, where the trio discussed working with guest star John Waters and reflected on their favorite moments from the series so far.
Finding sister Caroline (Carina Battrick) has been Lexy’s primary goal this season, and her relentless pursuit has put her on the offense when it comes to Chucky. It even gave the actress some hilarious one-liners, like calling Chucky a “nuked-up ginger.” When asked if she had any personal favorite scenes or lines of dialogue, Lind cited a season two fan favorite.
“I think that there are a lot of different things throughout all three seasons; Don’s writing is so incredible,” Lind told us. “A lot of the dialogue that stuck with me was between me and Nadine. All of those scenes were really, really heavy in the bathroom, both bathroom scenes. Everything that they talked about, just those entire scenes, will always make me tear up. The writing in those scenes was so beautiful, and their relationship was perfect, especially our wonderful Bella Higginbotham, who’s the best ever. The way she delivered all the lines. Everything about it, it’s my favorite scenes, for sure.”
Arnarson echoed that sentiment with a similarly fond, bittersweet memory, “The scene that I remember that was really cool was the scene in season one way back when Devon comes out to his mom about Jake and stuff. That scene was really sweet. And then it leads right into her dying. So good job, Don [Mancini], for breaking our hearts like that.”
As for Arthur, working with Brad Dourif in the Season 3 finale gave him his favorite series moment so far. He explained, “The scenes with Brad Dourif and me, or Chucky, talking to each other were a lot of fun to film. While I was doing the scenes, I was going into the theater to watch my dad die and watching all these deaths, and when I was getting ready for that, I was being serious. Then Brad Dourif did the most Chucky thing ever; he would be laughing at me because I was getting so serious before all my scenes. So, it was almost perfect. That was a lot of fun, working with Brad.“
Arthur doesn’t just act opposite Dourif in “Final Destination,” though. He plays Chucky inhabiting Jake’s body, delivering a striking impersonation in the process. Arthur walks us through how he nailed his Chucky performance.
“Well, I mean, there was a certain familiarity that we all have with the doll at this point after three years,” Arthur tells Bloody Disgusting. “But, really, it was the fact that I got to sit in with Brad on some of his recordings, and actually, there was about 30 minutes on set where me and Brad Dourif were screaming at each other, and I’m sure Aly and Bjorgvin have heard that and remember that. There’s got to be a video of that somewhere. But it was definitely a long time coming, and it really just felt like an out-of-body experience filming all of that.”
CHUCKY — “Final Destination” Episode 308 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) John Waters as Wendell Wilkins, Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)
The actors also shared scenes with John Waters as the Good Guy doll’s creator, Wendell Wilkins. While meeting Wendell may not have gone well for Jake, Devon, and Lexy, the actors’ experience working with Waters was quite the opposite.
Lind gushed, “I mean, I’m such a horror fan, so I was kind of nerding out, and he was such an icon. We were just listening to his stories all day on set. We’d sit down, and then he’d just go on another tangent, another story, and he was just mesmerizing to listen to. All of the things he had to say, all of his experiences on horror sets, and all of these iconic films that he has made. He would say something and he’d always followed it up by, ‘Pretend you didn’t hear that. Pretend you didn’t hear that. Pretend you didn’t hear that.’ I just had the best time working with him. As just a co-star and as an acting partner, he’s incredible. Then also just as a fan, it was a really great experience.”
“Yeah. I mean, we really get to work with legends on this show,“ Arthur added.
You can stream the “Chucky” Season 3 finale on Peacock now.
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