Summer Glau

The Wizard World L.A. Special Guest talks about her new robotic role, her career as a ballerina and her iconic sci-fi status.

If killer robot Terminators all looked as good as Summer Glau, then we’d be running with open arms towards Judgment Day. But till that mushroom-clouded day comes, your best chance of meeting the actress who plays the arousing automaton on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will be at Wizard World Los Angeles on Saturday, March 15. Glau will be on hand for special signings and more at the LA Convention Center!

“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” was Fox’s most watched scripted premiere since the year 2000. Check out some of Wizard Universe’s coverage on the show with our interviews of producer and writer Josh Freidman, special effects supervisor Jim Lima and actor Brendan Hines.

Any franchise that’s harbored Linda Hamilton and Kristanna Loken has set a dangerously high bar for females that can whip ass and look good doing it.

Fortunately, producers of Fox’s new “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Mondays, 8 PM ET) recognized their responsibility to eyeballs everywhere and cast Joss Whedon repertory player Summer Glau (“Firefly”) as the latest cybernetic model designed to protect John Connor from harm.

Glau spoke to WizardUniverse.com about her isolationist upbringing, her sci-fi leanings, and a possible assault on California’s Governator.

Read what Glau has to say here, then come meet her at Wizard World Los Angeles March 14-16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center where she’ll be one of our Special Guests!

WIZARD: You were a professional ballerina. That sounds like one of those imaginary professions, like me wanting to be a cowboy.

Glau: That’s what I want to do in my next life! Ballet is the hardest thing for a young girl to grow up doing. It’s strange to look back and realize that was my entire life. I woke up and I went dancing. There are countless stories about what my friends went through and what I went through. I didn’t go to school. I stayed home and did correspondence because I was working during the day. At the time, I thought it would be the end of the world if I had to be a normal girl.

How did you make the transition from dancing to acting?

It’s a very cliché thing to happen, but I wound up getting hurt, and I wasn’t trained to do anything else. I came to Los Angeles and did tango dancing for a year. I couldn’t dance on point anymore, so I couldn’t be a ballet dancer. So I ended up acting.

Do you see any similarities between the two?

The difference between being a ballet dancer and being an actor is that, when you come up in ballet, you look in the mirror all day and you try to be perfect. You try to be just like the girl in front of you and just like the girl behind you. There’s only one perfect way to stand in ballet. When you become an actor, you find out things about yourself that you can bring to a character that no one else could. That’s the way to get cast. Instead of doing things perfectly, you have to be real. That was something I had to let go of when I started acting, the idea of being perfect.

Judging by the number of online shrines, I think you’ve failed. Was there any culture shock in coming to L.A.?

I was so naïve when I came out here. I was fortunate that my parents kept a close eye on me and I got involved with people who really did care about me. But I will say the first year or two I was here was a huge learning curve.

Any good stories to share?

[Laughs] None that I would tell.

Do you seek out sci-fi projects, or do they keep finding you?

They keep finding me! “Firefly” was the first series regular role I ever auditioned for. After that, I felt like the sci-fi fans were so loyal—they really follow their actors and actresses. It seemed like a natural progression to continue on in that vein. I feel like sci-fi is a good fit for me. [But] it’s hard, too. When I play roles like [“Firefly’s”] River Tam, it’s hard for me to understand what a psychic crazy person is like.

That sounds like most people in L.A. You had to audition for “Terminator,” too?

I felt I wouldn’t fit that image at all. My mom pressured me into going. When I realized it was [writer] Josh Friedman [“War of the Worlds”] who had done the pilot, I got really excited, because he’s an extremely smart man. I thought, “Maybe he realizes who I am.” I had read for him before. I went in and read several times and I know my training helped because of all the martial arts. That’s a big part of what I do, in terms of character.

Did you have to go back and watch the films?

I think everyone is familiar with the Terminator because it’s so iconic, but I hadn’t seen all the films. When I was cast, I went out and got the films and watched them all the way through. I had an idea, but I was really surprised about how much you cared about the characters. I was surprised by how moving the stories were. That’s the thing I really carry to the series, especially since people come back to it every week.

Do you find your ballet training helps you with the action scenes?

Absolutely! We move very quickly. It’s not like a film, where you do fight scenes over and over again. You have to come on the day and be ready. The guys I work with learn it like a dance. It’s all in counts. It’s all choreographed. I appreciate that the guys don’t mind learning it like that. It makes it so much easier for me.

How has the fan reaction been?

You have fans of the films and they’re suspicious about what we’re doing. I completely understand what it’s like to be loyal to a film. We’re not trying to do a remake of it. We’re just adding to a story that we really respect. We love the films and we’re trying to stay true to them.

Do you have a favorite character from the original trilogy?

We’re trying to answer the question of what happened to Sarah Connor. She’s my favorite character from the series. I feel like she’s the heart and soul of the story, and it’s sad she’s not a part of the third film. We’re picking up after the second film and telling her story. I’ve been amazed by what our writers have come up with.

Arnold is like 60 now. Could you kick his ass?

[Laughs] I would never disrespect Arnold that way. He is the Terminator.