After last month’s revelationthat actresses Emilia Clarke, Brie Larson and Margot Robbie were auditioning for the role of Sarah Connor in a Terminator reboot, it is now being reported by Deadline that the casting has come down between Ms. Clarke and Ms. Larson.
The film, which is already set for a July 2015 release despite still being unable to confirm that Alan Taylor is directing the reboot—he told us in an interview that it was not a done deal before beginning casting several weeks later—so casting of the iconic female heroine seems imminent.
It is reported that Clarke currently has the edge, which makes sense given her professional history with Taylor. Prior to jumping back into features with Thor: The Dark World, Taylor previously directed the English ingénue in her star-making role on HBO’s hit Game of Thrones series. In the premium cable fantasy epic, Clarke has stolen many an episode as Daenerys “Stormborn” Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, which earned Clarke her first Emmy Award nomination earlier this year. Could the Mother of Dragons become the Mother of John Connor?
Perhaps, but Brie Larson has a lot of momentum behind her after a dynamite year in the indie circuit with films like The Spectacular Now, Don Jon and easily most memorably Short Term 12, which has led to Award Season buzz on the Oscar circuit for the young actress. And any geek worth their next-gen console shall remember her as the malevolent Envy, lead singer of the Clash at Demon Head, in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. She could be who they are looking for in a heroine who can birth a rebellion against the Skynet machines.
Either will have big shoes to fill in the role that made Linda Hamilton a star. Cast as an unknown in 1984, Hamilton went on to be director Cameron’s wife and his muse for iconic feminine badassery in the 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The part has also been played, ironically enough, by Emilia Clarke’s Game of Thrones co-star, Lena Headey, on the short-lived but cult revered Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series which aired on Fox during the late-2000s.