Linda Hamilton, known for The Terminator, recently talked about her role in the sci-fi comedy-drama Resident Alien on USA Network. She plays General Eleanor McCallister, a time-traveling character in the show.
Hamilton appears regularly in the series, and in a recent plotline, her character meets Alan Tudyk’s Harry Vanderspeigle—the alien who crashed in Colorado and took over a human’s identity. McCallister also travels back to 1970 to spend time with her father, who later took his own life, and she starts to believe she might be able to help him.
After encountering Harry, McCallister manages to convince her younger self that the alien sighting she had as a child was actually real.
It’s an opportunity for her to prove to her younger self that she did everything she could to save her father. She remembers how she felt back then and, in a kind way, [she] instructs her younger self to have the courage to go to her father. It’s poignant, poignant stuff.
Hamilton told TVLine
In the end, McCallister chooses to stay in the past, which likely means she won’t appear again this season, as Resident Alien continues airing new episodes through Aug. 8.
Still, Hamilton appreciated the opportunity to show fans a gentler side of her character, who is normally shown fiercely chasing aliens.
It’s nice to learn a little bit more about her and certainly lovely to play the deeper, feeling side of a character that you have not seen behave that way. She gets more time with her dad and gets to be there for her younger self. It’s kind of lovely, right? Would we do that if we got to go back in time and actually be beside our younger selves? What an interesting choice.
Hamilton said
Although General McCallister is currently stuck in the 1970s after her time-traveling journey, Hamilton mentioned it’s probably not the end of her time on the alien series.
We have pushed this show up a mountain year after year with COVID and the actors’ strike and just these long gaps. I really feel that we’ve just hit our stride. In terms of viewership and word of mouth, we’ve just entered a really great place. I hope we get another season or two or three. And if we do, [creator] Chris [Sheridan] said that he will come back to the ’70s and get me. So I’d be honored [to return].
she shared
New episodes of Resident Alien air Fridays on USA Network.
Source: TVLine