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Before landing the coveted role as Dani Ramos in Terminator: Dark Fate, actress Natalia Reyes had received acclaim for her brilliant turn in Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s Birds of Passage. Columbian born Reyes is perhaps more widely known for her role on the television series, Lady, la vendedora de rosas, where she has commandingly shown her gifted skills in front of the camera.
For her role on the latest Terminator sequel, one that would ignore every other movie made after James Cameron’s defining T2: Judgement Day, Reyes would require not only her dramatic performance talents, but also her physical dedication to the long, tough, and action-oriented shoot. Fortunately, she rose to the challenge.
Reyes spoke to Home Theater Forum about taking on the role of Dani in one of the world’s most recognizable science fiction franchises, working with cinema legends, and who helped her through the arduous shoot.
Terminator: Dark Fate is available now from Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K UHD and Digital.
HTF: What was the most challenging part of playing Dani? Was it the dramatic performance elements as your character deals with the death and trauma and the weight of what that all means, or was it the physicality of performing in some pretty elaborate action set pieces, and what I imagine were probably endless nights to get them done? Which was the greater challenge for you on Dark Fate?
“We were in Spain and Hungary and we didn't stop. We were rehearsing and getting the stunts ready and getting underwater training and car training and weapons training. It was a lot. And action movies require different skills and it's a different language.”
Natalia Reyes: Well, I think the whole movie for me was a huge challenge. The emotional part of the character was a challenge, but I think mainly the physicality [and] being for the first time in such a big movie and getting to understand the scale of the movie. [It] was enormous and we’d be shooting for 6 months and traveling all around the world. We were in Spain and Hungary and we didn't stop. We were rehearsing and getting the stunts ready and getting underwater training and car training and weapons training. It was a lot. And action movies require different skills and it's a different language. So, it was a challenge. It was tons of learning and like being alive for six months and not sleeping much and being so committed with this amazing group of people to make the movie that we wanted to make.
HTF: So when you're working-- and this is the biggest production you've been part of in your career so far, how hard is it to not get swallowed up in this scale of the production and to focus on your performance amongst all the lack of sleep, this training you've gone through, the size and scale of the production and the visual effects work that'll come in later? How did you center and focus on your performance amongst that?
“He knows that you can do the most amazing VFX movies, but if you don’t have characters you care about, there's nothing. And Tim Miller, our director, was always thinking about that.”
Natalia Reyes: I think there were some elements that were key to keeping the emotional part of the movie alive. I was Linda (Hamilton), Arnold (Schwarzenegger), the Director (Tim Miller) and James Cameron, because they have been here before. They've done these kinds of movies before and they know. James Cameron is the father of [these] science fiction movies, which is amazing. He knows that you can do the most amazing VFX movies, but if you don’t have characters you care about, there's nothing. And Tim Miller, our director, was always thinking about that. We have all the ingredients from the franchise. With Linda, she really cares about the Sarah Conner. And was serious about [protecting] her. She was really taking care of everything. So, I think they were the guardians.
HTF: And it's still sadly rare to have an action franchise film tentpole release like Dark Fate to have all the heroines be female. I know the first Terminator film, which I'm sure you've seen by now, but back in 1984 when James Cameron was making that film, he was no stranger to having a heroine be the lead of an action science fiction story. But this film also did something that's even rarer in cinema and that's to have the heroine at the heart of the story be Latina. Was that a part of the draw for you in going for this film?
“I was excited and amazed when I read this script for the first time and saw this independent Latina [character] that has nothing to do with drugs or prostitution, and things like that real Latina’s can be doctors and lawyers…and we can save the world [chuckles].”
Natalia Reyes: Absolutely! I do think James Cameron, since Terminator 1, he had [Sarah Conner], being an independent, beautiful women who is getting stronger to raise her son. He's always had that, and I was excited and amazed when I read this script for the first time and saw this independent Latina [character] that has nothing to do with drugs or prostitution, and things like that. I'm used to seeing those kinds of roles, but real Latina’s can be doctors and lawyers…and we can save the world [chuckles]. I was amazed and I love the fact that it was a fair presentation. We Latina’s, we're a big community in the world, so I think this is a valid time because we can go watch movies and be represented in a fair way.
HTF: Let me ask you about working with the director Tim Miller. His big film before this one obviously, was Deadpool. I don't know if you had a chance to see that before working with him, but what was it like working with Tim and defining who Dani was within this Terminator franchise for your performance?
Natalia Reyes: Well, they don't always reveal that you're auditioning for this movie or a franchise movie, but when I finally found out that it was the Terminator movie and the director was Tim, I hadn't yet seen Deadpool, so, I was like, "Oh, my gosh. I need watch that now!" And I loved it. It was a different movie and it was cool. And it was such an honor to work with Tim because he is a very smart guy. But most of all, he's fun and he's cool and he really liked to do things in a different way. He'd like for you to go and propose things and to create together. And he’s collaborative. He was always thinking about the movie he wanted to tell, and we had our characters and he was open. He was humble. He was a great human being. It was a was one of the best experiences getting to know him and see how it made the set such a great space to work.
HTF: You stepped into a film where you would be starring alongside legends of cinema: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. I am wondering what you took away from working on this film with Arnold and with Linda?
“[Linda] was so loving with everyone on set, so professional and detailed about every line she has to say and her character. That's why I love her, watching her in her craft. It was inspiring.”
Natalia Reyes: It was surreal just to get to know them, but to live with them for six months! I spent so much time to get to know them. I think from Arnold, I would say I really respect and admire how he's so cautious of his image, of his power in the world in a big way. He cares about the world. He knows his message is important and powerful and he cares about it. That's something I admire, and I respect [about] him. He’s worried about the world. He cares about climate change, as I do. And he takes action. He's conscious and that's something that I really admire. We would talk about poverty and immigration and climate change. So, I love how he cares about the world.
And Linda, it was so inspiring to see her being back, being a bad ass, and being so committed to the work. She was so loving with everyone on set, so professional and detailed about every line she has to say and her character. That's why I love her, watching her in her craft. It was inspiring.
HTF: Thank you for speaking with us today, Natalia. Congratulations on Dark Fate. I wish you all the very best.
Natalia Reyes: Thank you so much, Neil.
