Stylin Online - T-Shirts




Return to the Continuum home page

Clicking on images provides larger ones.
Stylin Online - T-Shirts

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2008


WONDERCON: TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

SAN FRANCISCO -- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles hasn't reached double-digits in episodes, but already has a strong fan base, given Sunday's panel at WonderCon.

Panelists included executive producer John Wirth, executive producer Josh Friedman, Brian Austin Green, Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau.

Following are highights:

* Friedman said the show's writers had a "pretty good plan" and the show has come together as planned. He added it is funnier than he thought it was going to be.

* Glau said Dekker always wears sunglasses at the early rehearsals and does them in different characters.

* What was it like joining the cast for Green? "It was really scary and overwhelming at first," he said, noting the the group had already bonded. "But the cast was fantastic. I stepped in and everybody was really welcoming."

* Green: "I get to fight Terminators. Who doesn't want to do that?"

* Friedman originally wanted to bring Kyle Reese back, but then decided to do his brother. "I thought the Reese family plays a really emotional part," he said, noting the family unit is an important part of the show.

"I keep saying they're like the ultimate nuclear family," he said.

* Wirth came into the show after the pilot and was attracted by the quality of the script and then the actors from the pilot. "I thought, who but these actors could play these roles?" he said.

* Green joked that he probably was an ideal choice for an action role.

Friedman said once Green's audition was seen, everyone was convinced he nailed the role.

"He completely confounded our expectations with the way he portrayed this character, which was exactly as we saw it," Wirth said. "There was kind of a miniamlism."

* Friedman said fans trying to link up all the mythos from the movies and the television "will break their heads open."

* A catch-phrase for Cameron? Dekker said, "Thank you for explaining" was a line that caught on. Friedman said the writers are trying to make the Terminators polite.

* Dekker said he just started working out so "he can kick more ass in the second season." He said some people like where he is and some people are frustrated that he isn't the future leader yet.

"It's a character arc thing. You can't have three Alphas running around," Friedman noted.

* Dekker noted that the sizzle reel that was shown included "so much action" for only nine episodes.

* Friedman said it's a "necessity is the mother of invention" in producing action on a budget. "It's a lot of the small violent moments I appreciate," he said.

* Glau said her favorite action scene was in the first episode, where she crashed through a breakway wall.

* Friedman said that actors' abilities to do their own stunts, cuts down on time need to shoot scenes and looks much better.

* Friedman said Glau is the "ultimate employee." "She says, 'Just tell me what to do and I'll do it,'" he said.

* Dekker said he reads fans' feedback. "Sometimes it makes me happy. Sometimes it hurts," he said, noting he is amused by flame wars over continuity.

Glau said she's too sensitive to go on the message boards. "I let my mom send me some of the good links," she said.

Green said he does read the boards. "Purely for entertainment," he said, especially going from the vitriol from his casting to the point now where people are just calling him Derek.

* Dekker said the show has "taught me a lot about strength and belief."

Dekker said that everyone involved with the show maintained their belief when buzz was negative before the series aired.

* Green: "I'm going to come away from this show saying science-fiction kicks ass. Praise the fuckin' Terminator!"

* Wirth said nothing has been done to "dumb down" the series. "We rely on our actors to sell things through acting," he said. "You guys get it. You totally get it."

* Friedman said he has a Terminator head on his desk.

* Friedman has mapped out a second season. The first season was cut short by four episodes because of the writer's strike and the final episode will end with a cliffhanger. He said things are in flux and the staff has a lot of ideas.

* Friedman said the show was the second-highest drama DVR'ed.

* Glau said she was "lost" when she first read the Terminator material. "It's a fine line for me. I didn't want to take the easy way out. I don't want it to be just playing a robot and I don't want it to be just playing a girl."

* Glau was asked how she feels being on the same next that canceled Firefly. "I pray every night," she said.

* Glau said she has to "undo some things" from her martial arts training for action scenes as Terminator.

* What happened to Dekker's character from Heroes? Dekker said he had to take the Termintor role and that there was talk of doing an episode of Heroes, but there wasn't time.

* A clip with an interesting interaction between John and Cameron was shown to end the panel.



E-mail the Continuum at RobAlls@aol.com



Return to the Continuum home page


Copyright © 2008 The Comics Continuum