Summer Glau is a Ballerina Terminator

Okay, I was always a little skittish around this part of the show, but since it’s out there in major newspapers and even Sci Fi Wire (where this article is from), I’m going to accept that people know Summer Glau plays a Terminator (though a good one!) on the show, and that she was sent from the future to help John by, well, John. (Remember, in all the movies, and the show, one presumes, Future John Connor is still sending re-programmed Terminators back in time to save himself against Skynet’s killer Terminators.)

Here’s what the beautiful Summer (she looks so good in the pilot, too) has to say about her role.

About being cast as a Terminator:

“I didn’t think I had a chance at being cast in this role,” Glau said in an interview following a press conference at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 23. “I’ve seen [Terminator 3 star] Kristanna Loken in person, and she’s so statuesque and she has that icy beauty, and I thought, ‘I don’t even want to go on this audition. I’m just going to be embarrassed. I’m going to get in the room, and I’m going to be embarrassed.’ But she infiltrates. And that’s what terminators are going to be now. They infiltrate. They hide. They’re not, ‘What is that superhuman person?’ That’s what we’re going to do with this series. And, I think, every week people are going to be watching the show going, ‘OK, which one is it?’”

About playing a Terminator:

“I was, to be honest, very intimidated,” she said. “I didn’t know how to play this character. I’ve played very vulnerable characters so far, and it’s kind of what I do. So playing a girl that can’t truly feel anything was very intimidating for me. It was hard to find a way to make the scene interesting. And I worked with Josh a lot of it. And then, in my final test, when I tested for the role, he wrote a third scene where I had to cry. And I was so confused by it at first. And then I realized that he’s really going to take this far. She is really human. She can mimic the most subtle human emotions as well as a spy.”

About empowering Grrrrls:

“I called Joss when I got the role, because I wanted his input and what he thought about me doing this,” she said. “I just love any opportunity for a young girl to be empowered and to play a role like this. I think we can’t get enough of that in this day and age. And I think there’s still a lot of oppression for girls in Hollywood. I have to be honest. There’s a lot of roles that are still degrading, I think, for girls. And I’ve turned down a lot of things because I want to play roles like this where girls are celebrated and they’re empowered and it’s inspiring.”

Having seen the pilot, I can say that the girls on the show MAKES the show. Summer Glau’s Cameron and Lena Headey’s Sarah Connor is what drives SCC. And oh yeah, Thomas Dekker’s John Connor is cool, too.