Spiegel Stuff: Can James Cameron Re-Invent the Action Heroine Again?

Vanity Fair

ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY and AWARD NEWS FROM HOLLYWOOD, compiled by REBECCA KEEGAN

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

It's Wednesday, and I'm scratching my head after getting my health-care news from Jimmy Kimmel and my Emmy Awards ratings from Donald Trump.

Hello from Los Angeles, where we're flexing Linda Hamilton's muscles, basking in Harry Dean Stanton memories, and taking a peek at Adam Sandler's surprising screen re-invention.

COME WITH HER IF YOU WANT TO LIVE

In 1983, James Cameron cast Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor—a waitress charged with saving humanity in Terminator—after watching the little-known actress run down producer Gale Anne Hurd's driveway to see how she would look fleeing a cyborg. On Tuesday, Cameron revealed that Hamilton, now 60, will return to the franchise that ignited both of their careers and revolutionized the modern movie heroine—not to mention one that led to their marriage, a daughter, and a divorce. "As meaningful as she was to gender and action stars everywhere back then, it's going to make a huge statement to have that seasoned warrior that she's become return," Cameron said of Hamilton's role at a private event celebrating a new installment of the franchise, writes The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit. The new Terminator movie, which Cameron will produce and Deadpool's Tim Miller will direct, is the first to involve the franchise's originator since 1991's T2. As V.F.'s Joanna Robinson notes, Cameron's return to his O.G. Sarah Connor may help explain controversial comments the director made recently when he called Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman "a step backwards." As subversive as Sarah Connor was in her day, a generation of sinewy action heroines followed in her wake, and ideas about gender have evolved—the softness and femininity that were largely scrubbed from Hamilton's iconic character in T2 were a big part of Wonder Woman's appeal for female audiences in 2017. How Cameron, Miller, and a writing room composed primarily of men take the groundbreaking character forward from here will be something to watch. We'll pass the time by working on our chin-ups.

Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991. — Linda Hamilton in *Terminator 2: Judgment Day,* 1991.

From TriStar Pictures/Everett Collection.

THE ESSENTIAL HARRY DEAN STANTON

V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes:

Grizzled, magnetic Harry Dean Stanton, who died Friday at the age of 91, was more than a character actor—he was a presence, a man who wrung every last drop out of life. But there's no need to rely on generalities here: V.F. contributor Drew Fortune spent a whirlwind weekend with Stanton's nearest and dearest just a few weeks before the actor died, gathering unbelievable stories about Stanton in honor of the upcoming film Lucky, which marks Stanton's final starring role. (The movie comes out September 29.) Pour yourself a stiff drink, pull up a chair, and dive into his delightful story, which is sort of like an oral history of Stanton's life—featuring Buddhism, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, the woman who left him for Tom Cruise, a barfly named Mouse, and much, much more.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

V.F.'s Katey Rich writes:

There are the families that built Hollywood—the Warners, the Mayers and Selznicks, the Marxes. There are the families that have spanned generations of movie-industry talent—the Barrymores, the Hustons. And then there are the families that, whether you like it or not, define the industry as it is today— hello, Kardashians. All of these families and more made the cut for Vanity Fair's list of the 25 most important families in Hollywood history, written by contributor Katie Calautti. From the power couples of the silent era to the ever-branching tree of the Coppola family, these are the dynasties that prove that nepotism sometimes isn't such a bad thing after all.

TRUMP VS. THE EMMYS

V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes:

Once again, our Nielsen correspondent-in-chief has decided to chime in on some ratings news. On Tuesday night, Donald Trump took aim at this year's Stephen Colbert-hosted Emmy Awards, tweeting that Sunday's gala was the least-watched in Emmys history. In fact, the viewership numbers for Sunday's telecast largely held steady with last year's; in total viewers, it was actually a bit higher than 2016's telecast. It's no surprise that Trump would have his numbers wrong; this is, after all, the guy who continually called The Apprentice TV's No. 1 show despite the fact that it was routinely losing in ratings to Mike & Molly.

IF HE HOLLERS

V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes:

Noah Baumbach, that tireless purveyor of dramedy and familial dysfunction in New York City, is back with another one. V.F. is premiering the new trailer for The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), his upcoming film, which will hit theaters and Netflix on Oct. 13. Like always, the Baumbach film features a stellar cast, this time one that includes Dustin Hoffman, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Emma Thompson, in pure kooky form. Hoffman plays Harold Meyerowitz, a retired art professor and full-time crank who needles away at his kids whenever he can. Stiller plays Matthew, the successful son; Sandler plays Danny, the disappointing one; and Elizabeth Marvel plays Jean, the sole daughter. Thompson stars as Maureen, Meyerowitz's bohemian fourth wife, an expert at delivering a good non sequitur. The Cannes crowd will recall that the film debuted at the French fest (amid all the Netflix hullabaloo) and garnered warm reviews. For V.F., critic Jordan Hoffman hailed its memorable dialogue, as well as Sandler's surprisingly "tremendous" performance. Sign us right up.

RAGING BULL, REMEMBERED

V.F.'s Matt Lynch writes:

Former world middleweight boxing champion Jake La Motta died Tuesday in Miami at age 95. A primal puncher whose career stretched from 1941 to 1954, La Motta may have been remembered only by cigar-chomping midcentury boxing obsessives had it not been for Robert De Niro, who became fixated with the fighter's 1970 memoir and convinced an initially reluctant Martin Scorsese to direct its film adaptation. In a 2010 making-of-Raging Bull piece for Vanity Fair, the late Richard Schickel wrote that De Niro felt that "if an essentially middle-class movie audience could be induced to empathize with these marginal, emotionally ignorant, and screechingly inarticulate people—La Motta, his wife, and his brother—it would be a good, discomfiting, perhaps even instructive experience." De Niro told Schickel that for research, he tracked down La Motta at a Seventh Avenue strip club where he was serving as head bouncer and "doing battle with his weight." Sixty pounds—and one epiphany-sparking, near-death experience for Scorsese—later, the film, which chronicles La Motta's brutal life in and out of the ring, won De Niro his second Oscar. Read Schickel's full piece on the making of Scorsese's masterpiece here.

That's the news for this sunny Wednesday in L.A. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and Linda Hamilton's workout routine to Rebecca_Keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca.