Summer Glau -A good choice for the Teen-minator?
I want to here Raves and Rants about Summer Glau’s casting as the Cameron character on the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Is it a good choice? Would you have gone a different direction?
Is her character to close too the Serenity character “River” ?
I think in the first 2 episodes I liked it but in the recent 3rd ……well, I’m not sure.
I welcome your thoughts.
-DH
The TermiNerd Chronicles 
January 23, 2008 at 4:00 pm
My favorite character by far is Cameron. I know some might be put off by John’s protector going from a huge guy (Arnold Schwarznegger) in T2 to a little girl in the series, but you have to admit that she can really kick butt and she does it with grace.
http://redlightnaps.wordpress.com/category/television/terminator-sarah-conner-chronicles/
January 23, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Thats for the comments vacelts.
Yes -with grace is her style for sure.
January 23, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Wow… what a question.
I had my concerns, especially considering she played River. Sometimes actors get stuck into roles that are similar, because they can play that role or fans expect it, or they can only play a certain role (type-casting), or for their name recognition among a Genre’s fans.
Spaced out brain-case: River
Spaced out AI system: Cameron, the Terminator
I have been pleasantly surprised. Summer seems to be versatile enough to differentiate the two characters. Also, after having seen her in a real life interview, I realize her personality is nothing like River or Cameron.
River’s fighting strength was in grace; her fighting was like a dance. Cameron’s fighter is brute force. This has been a key difference for me.
I was concerned about a small-framed young woman being able to hold her own in a Terminator-on-Terminator fight based purely on mass. Twice the mass, twice the power, and twice the advantage means the big Terminator is gonna win. For the sake of finding myself too nitpicky, I am finding myself suspending my disbelief.
All my concerns have been addressed. I think it was a good casting decision.
January 23, 2008 at 7:01 pm
What didn’t you like in the third episode about the character?
January 24, 2008 at 11:20 am
I Thought her performance was way to mechanical and the Bitch-whore thing wasn’t as funny as I’m sure it was written.
February 5, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I will watch anything Summer Glau is in, pretty much. I thought she was over the top hot as River in Firefly and Serenity. Because of her portrayal of the emotionally damaged, but capable of opening a can of whupa$$ in the 55 gallon drum size I thought she was an obvious choice of a female terminator.
Also, as a former prison guard who is just under 6′ tall and from a family of mostly 6’4″ and a few taller fellows, I can tell you straight up there are some mechanical advantages that a properly trained and motivated person can bring to bear on a bigger opponent. Also, look at the diminutive Nepalese Gurkhas. Those are some seriously effective warriors.
Besides, Summer Glau is worth watching every chance you get. She is simply what you think of when you think of what a girlfriend needs to look like. (IMO)
February 6, 2008 at 9:16 pm
“Besides, Summer Glau is worth watching every chance you get. She is simply what you think of when you think of what a girlfriend needs to look like. (IMO)”
Your opinion of girlfriend requirements lacks imagination. She is plain. Bland.
On another note, Ms. Glau seems to perform in a lot of canceled programs. Interesting. Perhaps she’s the terminator for shows.
February 16, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Uhh, I admire your dedication to her.. Except for “Hunter” Bland??? Well… I guess ya can’t be all things to all people however don’t knock it because she could be all things to me.. haha, I had never even heard of her before this role but she is effective as Cameron to the point I couldn’t imagine someone else taking the role now… anyway… She is pretty hot, pretty damn hot I guess its the ballet dancing… HOT… oh god, yeah, thats my type of woman though… Anyway, I see that she may have been on several canceled shows but she seems to have created a niche and found the role that will probably launch her career… She deserves it, she is hottt and not like all of the bland blonde hoez out there… 4 realz..
February 22, 2008 at 6:34 am
well, now. i do agree with all of you, with the exeption of Hunter. i just don’t see how you can view Summer’s character’s as bland. she brands a certain type of sexy.
as River Tam, she’s a 17 yr old girl who’s smarter than a book, a psychic, and a prodigy Parliment weapon. put yourself on Serenity and imagine talking with her, tryin to get her over to your bunk – when she knows exactly what you’re thinking. that would be a mind game i’d love, love, LOVE to play. not to mention, she appeals to the softer side of guys – the part that wants to patch up all her mental trauma’s.
as Cameron, she’s a sexy shorty who gives new meaning to the word “hardcore”, in what she says, what she does, even how she looks at you. now i only saw this week’s episode bcuz i’ve been on vacation for 5 weeks – but it was a delightful surprise that Summer landed this role and now i love her even more.
honestly, it’s her face; more attractively, it’s her eyes that make her sexy. whether it’s River Tam reading my mind, or Cameron calculating if i’m a threat or not – i’d still love her by my side. Summer is perfect for Cameron’s role.
February 23, 2008 at 2:44 am
Shes hot – in any role on any show – why do you need to know anymore except whens here next time to be seen.
February 23, 2008 at 3:05 am
I love the show, and I love it in large part because of the role of Cameron, especially as played by Summer Glau. I’ve been on a few blogs and message boards about the subject of this series and I really don’t see why people are so critical. Think you could do it better? I love Cameron being a dainty female terminator because it adds contrast to the show. And this post wouldn’t be complete unless I commented on Summer Glau being hot. Summer Glau is hot. Damn. Now, I’m going to watch the show so I can watch her twitch that sexy ass of hers (mmm). Any dissenters can change the channel and watch some reality show, since it’s more your speed.
February 25, 2008 at 3:38 am
“Think you could do it better?”. you know, there are times when i see some things and come up with a “yes” answer for that, lol. anyway, i like being critical tho. it lets me imagine what meeting her at a bar would be like, bcuz i know i wouldn’t be talking a character. it’s Hollywood, sh*t can happen
March 1, 2008 at 10:56 am
so what if she’s playing basically the same character. both river and cameron are bad *sses. and she’s perfect. she can kick my *ss any time!
March 4, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Bland. -Hunter
Comment is too baseless to do anything other than look at it, acknowledge that someone said it, respond with a “Whatever!” and move on.
I would have been just plain upset had I not known she was a terminator and probably more than able to survive the truck bomb in the season finale, though. Anyone know when the season premier for season two will be?
Yup, addicted to the series and to Summer.
March 4, 2008 at 7:03 pm
bland?!!! hunter, man, it’s called acting. in reality she’s not like river or cameron. I know her, we’re good friends and trust me…she aint bland. truly, though, she has quite a personality. very fun to hang out with. shes nice, funny, smart, hot, a coyboys fan, a san antonian, and she’s a real guy’s gal. so, yes, she is everything any man would want in a girlfriend. still, I lack the confidence to ask her out. so sad, I have the opritunity and the means and the motive, but not the will. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!
March 4, 2008 at 8:25 pm
this is a rather discussed issue…’will cameron return?’ well, its faily common knowlege that fox plans on renewing the show. but does that include summer? if they don’t renew the program, I will find it depressing. if they renew it without cameron, more importantly summer glau, then I will find it extreme suck. sure, I’ll watch the show’s first few. until I realize its just not the same and find another show. I mean really, having this without cameron is like having terminator without arnold. just not right! moreover, if fox has any inteligence, they should realise that to lose summer would drop ratings. lets face it, she’s hot. thats why the majority of the viewers are men. anyone from 13 to 50 watch this for her. my sister says she and her friends watch it for john, and then we have grown women viewing things from sarah’s side. and my dad watches it for the fact that its terminator. but that’s off topic.
‘will cameron return, will it be summer?’ that is what I will answer. she seems to be a fusion of T-800 and T-X. in VICK’S CHIP, john opens up cameron like they did in T2, the endoskeleton seems to be based primarily upon the T-800 model.
in THE DEMON HAND, she displays incredible flexability, rivaling the T-X. she also has shown that she is more advanced than he ‘parent’ terminators. her endoskeleton is harder than the T-800, her flexability is greater than the T-X.
moreover, she has proven she can regenerate flesh at an incredible rate. the T-800 pulled through a bigger explosion and was fully capable. with this in mind, if they intend to keep it canon, cameron will be back. and if they want to be consistant, summer will be too. but, you never know, does surface ring a bell?
hell no! this was far better than surface and deserves to return. but that carbomb can’t stop a terminator, let alone cameron! But for now, one can only hope…
March 6, 2008 at 2:27 am
To be honest, I found most of the characters to be overacting a little too much, but then comes Summer.
On ep 7 you see the other side of her character, this is not any kind of machine.
The question is, what drives this robots apart from killing the human race ?
With Cameron you start to see the other side of the story call it “the machine pov”.
She is different form the others, and it shows.
She’s a big part of this series , it’s what makes this story original in their own way, at the end im shure it will reveal something really different from the machine world.
And above all this the character of Cameron fits perfectly well on Summer.
Ep 7 made me almost cry, Bravo !
March 12, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I think summer glau plays a perfect cameron! Shes freakin awsome!!!!!!! My whole fam luvs her!?? r u crazy 2 not like it?
March 12, 2008 at 8:04 pm
JHON CONNER IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOTT!!!! dontcha think?
March 21, 2008 at 8:35 am
+
As someone who discovered Firefly/Serenity and TTSCC (thus River and Cameron, let alone Summer Glau) on the same night, I have to weigh in on the River/Cameron issue.
Honestly, I see nothing — NOTHING — similar in these two characters. They don’t even look similar, which is quite remarkable given that Summer plays both. There is a whole different feel to each: River is wounded, damaged, unstable, poignant, emotional. Cameron is none of these things. Cameron is cold, methodical, calculating…a machine.
River Tam could have never killed a man in cold blood as does Cameron at the end of TTSCC #2, let alone do so with no reaction whatsoever, other than “He might have been lying.” Cameron never could have defeated a menacing bounty hunter via a battle of wits, as does River in “Objects in Space” (from Firefly). Forget the easy stuff: that they fight different.
Duh. No kidding.
Look at their characters. They are as different as night and day. River is a psychic, and her amygdala has been stripped from her brain. She feels everything. She can’t help it.
Cameron is a machine. She feels nothing.
And Summer Glau brings both of these characters to life so well that I never see even a hint of River in Cameron.
Watch Cameron in her grief counselor session, where she “plays back” what the suicidal girl said to her shortly before killing herself. Cameron goes into playback mode, like a switch: ON, then OFF and Cameron’s back, cold and emotionless. (This scene is priceless. It’s also on YouTube, and well worth watching again and again.)
Compare that to “Shindig” (Firefly) when River is literally playing with Badger, assuming the character of someone from his home, Cockney accent and all. River is reading his mind, learning about his background, playing off of that, and basically just playing with hm and freaking him out. River does that.
Both scenes feature Summer playing a character who is suddenly playing someone else, yet the way in which Cameron and River play someone else is so completely different that it really shows just how different Summer approaches these two roles.
On top of all of that, River Tam is my favorite character in any work of fiction — ever — so believe me, if anyone would see a hint of River in Cameron, it’s me. But it’s not there. Cameron is Cameron, enjoyable — immensely enjoyable — in her own right.
Just because both characters are “kick-butt girls” doesn’t equate the two; in fact, both characters are most enjoyable to me in the quieter non-action scenes, where “character” truly shows through. Think Cameron paying off of BAG (some of the best scenes in TTSCC feature their sparring), or River’s “Please God, make me a stone” soliloquy on Miranda (Serenity).
Completely different characters. I can’t even say both characters are “hot,” as so many do. Cameron is hot. River isn’t. River’s just outside of that sphere, whereas Cameron has strange hints of all aspects of humanness, sexuality included.
Finally, Summer Glau, IMHO, deserves far more credit than she gets for being an excellent actress; for portraying two characters who COULD have been played similarly as completely unique, compelling, and well worth watching in each of their own right.
March 29, 2008 at 12:10 am
Summer’s hot. I’d much rather look at her than Arnold
April 22, 2008 at 8:56 pm
She is perfect for the role
September 17, 2008 at 12:22 am
Wow, this is crazy. Summer use to go to my church and babysit me and my sisters. Its really weird to see her on tv.
December 2, 2008 at 11:40 am
summer forever!! She is perfect in every way…critics just don’t get it.
Take your arguments somewhere that someone might care.
Geez…….she’s hot, period.
January 9, 2009 at 11:26 am
I couldn’t imagine anyone else pulling off Cameron successfully. I’d be lying if I said there were another reason for me tuning in so adamently.
Besides being beautiful, Summer is incredibly talented. Her portrayal of River was simply inspired and as Cameron, IMHO, she makes you want more for her.
There is so much that can be done with her character, I just hope the writers take greater advantage of what she is capable of in the next (and probably/unfortunately last) 9 episodes.