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initially struggled with portions of the script, once asking "What is
'polyalloy'?" He also expressed concern about his character's non-lethal
depiction, which conflicted with his action-hero persona and portrayal of the
character in The Terminator . Cameron explained he wanted to defy audience
expectations. Schwarzenegger requested: "Just make me cool". [4] Casting [
edit ] (Left to right) Edward Furlong (pictured in 2009) and Joe Morton (2019)
Schwarzenegger became interested in reprising his role after finding the
character more complex and sympathetic than in the previous film. [44] [45] To
accurately portray a fearless and emotionless machine, he trained extensively
with stunt coordinator Joel Kramer to remain unaffected by fire and explosions
around him. Schwarzenegger earned $12–$15 million for his involvement. [f]
Carolco had been blamed for the increase in exorbitant salaries paid to
actors, having paid Schwarzenegger around $11 million for Total Recall (1990).
They justified the expense as the value of their leads' wide appeal in markets
outside the U.S. [26] [49] [50] To lessen the immediate financial burden,
Carolco paid most of Schwarzenegger's salary with a financed $12.75 million
Gulfstream III jet. [26] [32] [51] Cameron refused to re-cast Hamilton's role
but developed plans to work around her absence if she chose not to return.
Negotiations were protracted but concluded promptly after Cameron informed
Carolco the script could not be finished until he knew if Hamilton would be
involved. [4] Hamilton received roughly $1 million, which she described as
"quite a bit more" than her earnings for The Terminator , but expressed
disappointment at the pay disparity between her and Schwarzenegger. [g]
Hamilton requested Sarah exhibit a "crazy" demeanor, explaining that after
years of living with the impending doom of humanity, she believed Sarah would
have transformed into an untamed entity, a warrior combined with a
psychologically unstable woman. [4] [19] She continued: "[The T-800] is a
better human than I am, and I'm a better Terminator than he is". [45] Cameron
considered giving the character a facial scar but determined that applying it
daily would be difficult. [53] Hamilton undertook extensive preparation for
her role, working with a personal trainer for three hours a day, six days a
week, and maintaining a strict low-fat diet, losing about 12 pounds (5.4 kg)
of body weight. [4] [14] [18] She also received judo and military training
from former Israeli commando Uziel Gal. [4] [14] [18] Between training,
filming, and spending time with her infant son Dalton, Hamilton averaged only
four hours of sleep per day. [18] She described her experience as "sheer hell"
but enjoyed showing off her new physique. [4] [18] Hamilton's twin sister,
Leslie, was also cast in scenes where two versions of Sarah appear on-screen
simultaneously. [18] Patrick, who was living in his car, was one of several
actors in their late 20s considered for the T-1000 role. Cameron wanted a
lithe actor resembling a newly recruited police officer to contrast with
Schwarzenegger. According to Cameron, "If the [T-800] series is a kind of
human Panzer tank, then the [T-1000] series had to be a Porsche". [4] [54]
[55] Casting director Mali Finn believed Patrick had the "intense presence"
they wanted. Patrick auditioned by acting like an emotionless hunter and later
participated in a screen test to judge the way lighting worked with his skin
and eyes. [4] [56] [57] For his character, he drew inspiration from
Schwarzenegger's performance in The Terminator and observed hunting
creatures—reptiles, insects, cats, and sharks. Patrick's facial expressions
were based on those of an eagle, keeping his head tilted down to imply
constant forward movement. [h] He also employed a mixture of military posture
with martial arts to express a fluid motion that differed from the T-800's
rigid movements. [62] The role demanded Patrick be lean and fast, requiring
peak physical shape. [56] He learned to sprint without displaying heavy
breathing and exhaustion, and received specialized training from Gal. [56]
[57] [60] Weapons master Harry Lu taught Patrick to operate and reload
weapons, such as the T-1000's Beretta 92FS , without looking and eventually
without blinking. [56] Singer Billy Idol was originally cast for the role
before seriously injuring his leg in a motorcycle crash. In a 2021
retrospective, Cameron said Idol had an interesting aesthetic but in
hindsight, he probably would not have cast him. [4] [56] [63] Singer Blackie
Lawless of the rock band W.A.S.P. was also considered but deemed too tall.
[58] Furlong, among hundreds of other prospects, secured the role at his last
audition. Cameron believed that early candidates for the role of John Connor
were either overexposed in other media or came from advertisement backgrounds,
which trained them to be happy and perky. Furlong had no acting experience and
was discovered by Finn at the Boys & Girls Club in Pasadena . Cameron
described Furlong as having a "surliness, an intelligence, just a question of
pulling it out". [4] He was required to take acting lessons, learn Spanish,
and be able to ride a motorcycle and repair guns. [64] [65] Joe Morton
believed his casting as Miles Dyson had to do with Cameron wanting a minority
character to be integral to the changing of the world. [11] Morton avoided
interacting with the cast so that their on-screen relationships would seem
believably distant. [4] The role of Dyson was reduced after the preferred
casting choice, Denzel Washington , declined it because the role mainly
required him to act scared. [40] Filming [ edit ] The intersection in Bull
Creek spillway, North Hills (pictured in 2018), from which the T-1000 crashes
into the flood-control channel below The planned three months of pre-
production was reduced to meet the release schedule, leaving Cameron without
the time he wanted to prepare all aspects before filming began. [14] [66] Over
a week, he spent several hours each day choreographing vehicle scenes with toy
cars and trucks, filming the results, and printing the footage for storyboard
artists. [19] There was no time to properly test practical effects before
filming so if effects did not work, the filmmakers had to work around them.
[66] Principal photography began on October 8–9, 1990, with a $60 million
budget. [i] Scenes were filmed out of sequence to prioritize those requiring
extensive visual effects. Schwarzenegger found this difficult because he was
meant to convey subtle signs of the T-800's progressive humanity and was
unsure what was fitting for each scene. [25] [45] Cinematographer Adam
Greenberg , who also worked on The Terminator , described the greater scope of
the sequel as the most daunting prospect. Where he had been able to shout
instructions to his crew on the original film, he used one of 187 walkie-
talkies to conduct efforts over an expansive area. [69] The production was
arduous, in part because of Cameron, who was known for his short temper and
uncompromising "dictatorial" manner. The crew made T-shirts bearing the slogan
"You can't scare me—I work for Jim Cameron". [70] Schwarzenegger described him
as a supportive but "demanding taskmaster" with a "fanaticism for physical and
visual detail". [4] [39] Even so, by the 101st day of filming, Schwarzenegger
and Hamilton were frustrated by the high number of takes Cameron performed,
spending five days just on close-ups of Hamilton in the Dyson home. [19] To