STAHL TALKS "T3" WITH TAFs!Nick Stahl: TAFs' Phone interview! Reported By: René de Jong Tuesday, September 24, 2002 TheArnoldFans.com just got off the phone with mankind's future military leader John Connor. We spoke with Nick Stahl, co-star to Arnold Schwarzenegger of T3: Rise of the Machines! Thanks to WB arranging this interview, Nick was gracious enough to sit down and answer TheArnoldfans' questions about his "T3" involvement. TAFs: How has the John Connor character evolved since we last saw him 10 years ago? Nick Stahl: "Well, his domestic life has changed. He lives on his own now, kind of the grid I guess. He sort of seeks himself in private and still has memories of what happened 10 years ago, which are still fresh to him. So, he's very guarded and kind of weary of technology." TAFs: So, is he the great military leader now, which Edward Furlong described in T2? Nick Stahl: "No, he's not. He's no more of a leader, in his mind. He's no more of a leader he was 10 years ago." TAFs: Do you have any uncomfortable love-making scenes with Claire Danes? And if not, what is the on-screen relation? Nick Stahl: (Laughs) "If I did you wouldn't see! Well, I don't know how much I can say about this. It's kind of secretly tight." There was much more to discuss. Stahl explained his reaction when the studio asked him to play such a big part in a major production. "I was really thrilled I got it. I guess I was a little intimidated. This role is done before, stuff like that. But, I was extremely happy that I got it." He also discussed his comparisons with Edward Furlong's work from T2. "I had to do it on my own. I wanted to approach it as a complete new character. They wanted another character/ actor for the role, so there was no being different. You just have an automatic back-story, a whole history that's documented.” And what of the physical challenges of being in a huge Special Effects film? "It's a different kind of movie I discovered. You shoot something 100 different ways, so every time you do something, physical, you've got to do it over and over again. It's hard if you're not prepared for it, but I had a lot of physical training a few months before shooting. I also had to learn how to handle hand-guns and things like that, so it is pretty fun actually. It's new to me!" What did Nick think of the past two movies and working with Arnold. Did working with Arnold make it difficult for him since Arnold's a major star? "Well, I've seen the second film and I really liked it as a 15 year old kid. I watched it many times! The first film I probably only saw once, but I saw it a couple of times again later. Arnold is a larger-than-life character and I don't think that really affected the working relation. He's been acting for so long now." But, while signing on to do "T3" Nick also must have been aware of the fact that suddenly everybody's going to know him immediately after the film's release. How does he prepare himself for this? "Well I don't know about that. I've been making sure that the rest of my life is in as much order as possible, because I don't know exactly what to expect from this and of course we'll be traveling and doing some press junkets and stuff like that, but other then that, I really don't know what to expect." Isn't Nick afraid he will be typecast as John Connor? "I don't know, it's a different type of movie. I've done a variety of other things before this and it never occurred to me. But, although it's an action film there are also some strong human relationships involved, which makes the movie quit unique and makes the character realistic. So, I am never worried about that." So, what about "T4", would Nick care to join the cast once again for the fourth movie in the franchise: "We already discussed that option and I'd love to, but I guess it's really up to 'them' to do another film, but YES, I would love to do another Terminator movie." This was instantly followed up by another person to reveal: "Basically there are options for everybody to return in T4" In real life, is Nick someone who searches through the internet to see what's happening and how the fans react on his presence in the new movie: "No I haven't actually, I went online once when we started filming and I kind of vowed not to do it again ... laughs... because someone told me "you got to go to this website because people are writing scripts that don't exist" So I the first thing I read was this guy who gave like 50 reasons why I shouldn't play the role ...laughs again..., I just kind of turned it off. So I've tried to avoid that from then on". Are Nick and Arnold close friends now, do they still stay in touch? "Well, no, he's a busy guy you know. That's the nature of the job, first you work very long together and then you go on to the next thing." The future is set. Nick plays John Connor and if they want him to reprise the role again he's ready for it. But, what's next? "I guess I'm going to do a little independent film in Toronto in November and we'll shoot for about a month and that's about all for right now. The movie is called TWIST, a contemporary adaptation of Oliver Twist." Thank you Nick and special thanks to WB! "T3" is on the rise! ---------- |