Jason Clarke takes on canon in Terminator Genisys

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      It wasn’t too long ago that Jason Clarke was having difficulty getting any work. The Australian actor had made the move to the United States years earlier and featured in a number of American films and television series, but none had garnered a wide audience. In 2010, he was still getting roles that were identified by occupation, not name (e.g., “New York Fed Chief” in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps).

      His solid work in darker fare like the Johnny Depp vehicle Public Enemies and the television series Brotherhood wasn’t going unnoticed, however. By the time 2013 came along, Clarke had turned in three unquestionably solid performances alongside some pretty heady company. Lawless, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Great Gatsby achieved different levels of success, and each cemented Clarke’s status as a formidable character actor who wasn’t afraid of ambitious roles.

      That reputation won’t be disappearing anytime soon. The 45-year-old has three films slated to hit theatres before the end of 2015, including Terminator Genisys, opening Friday (July 3), in which he takes on the canonical role of John Connor. This isn’t your father’s John Connor, mind you. Terminator Genisys is more a reimagining of the story than it is a sequel or prequel to the earlier films. In it, John Connor sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) while coming into contact with the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Reese’s actions start reshaping the world that John is currently living in. It even gives the previously strictly civilian John a chance to don some metal and become half man, half machine.

      “What attracted me to the role was the whole technology between man and machine had gone a lot deeper than machines taking over computers and sending off bombs,” Clarke tells the Straight over the phone from Los Angeles, in his natural Australian accent. “It had gone to, you know: we create these machines, we create this technology, we give over to it, we let it run everything in our lives, and then we expect what? And John seemed to be at the heart of that problem.”

      Preparation is extremely important to Clarke, and while he didn’t talk to the man he succeeded as John Connor—his Public Enemies costar Christian Bale—about the role, he does have his opinions about previous versions of the character. “I’ve watched them all,” he says. “What I liked the most was Eddie Furlong in number two. Just the freedom he had, the lightness, the lack of responsibility, before it all started. That’s what I enjoyed and I took a lot away from that.”

      Straight after Terminator wrapped, Clarke filmed the adventure thriller Everest in New Zealand with Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley. He’s currently on break from filming a drama in Bangkok with director Marc Foster, and after that is headed to Budapest for a WWII film. Still, the man is humble when asked about his rising stardom. “I’m not like Arnold,” he says. “People don’t recognize me or stop traffic. It takes people a while before they go, ‘Oh, hang on, I know you.’ ”

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