Linda Hamilton on How Ex James Cameron Convinced Her to Return for New 'Terminator' (Exclusive)

After 28 years, Linda Hamilton is returning to Sarah Connor, the role that first brought her fame -- though it took some convincing.

ET’s Keltie Knight spoke with the veteran actress on the red carpet of Paramount’s CinemaCon event last week about rejoining the Terminator franchise, and how ex-husband James Cameron got to her to once again tackle the iconic role.

"You know, it was basically a phone call from James Cameron," she explained, before adding, "Well, he had to call me three times for me to call him back… But once he told me the idea and I actually sat and thought about it for six weeks... Did I want to go there again? But once I'm in, I'm in."

The upcoming film is titled Terminator: Dark Fate, and will reunite Hamilton and her co-star from the 1984 original, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although details are scant on the fall release, outside of it being a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, previous press images tout a strong female cast including not only Hamilton, but Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes. 

While on hand, the 62-year-old actress also discussed preparing for the extreme physical demands of playing Sarah Connor in a post-apocalyptic future.

"I trained for a year for this film and, of course, the assumption is that if you work just as hard, you're going to get the same results, not true. Without hormones," she explained. "So it was disconcerting to go... 'OK, the first thing people are going to do is go, Aw, she got old! Aw, she doesn't look the same.' But I've moved so far past that."

ET caught up with Cameron, who's producing the upcoming film, at the premiere of Alita: Battle Angel in February. He remained tight-lipped about the film's story, but he did discuss about the return of Hamilton.

"Well, Sarah’s back and Linda Hamilton’s back, so it’s the legit character that you remember, just years later," he stated. "And she’s back to do battle. That’s all I can say about that."

Terminator: Dark Fate arrives in theaters on Nov. 1.

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