Terminator Genisys: 3 Actors Considered To Play Sarah Connor (& 6 For Kyle Reese)

Although it’s since been retconned by Dark Fate, Terminator Genisys was conceived to blow the franchise wide open. It was supposed to set up a new trilogy of movies and a whole TV series. However, when it disappointed at the box office, these plans were put on hold and the franchise’s future was re-evaluated.

Before critical panning and tepid box office returns called off the sequels, the team behind Genisys intended to include new incarnations of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese that were expected to have three-movie character arcs. Choosing the right actors (Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney, apparently) wasn’t easy.

9 Kyle: Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult was one of the producers’ first choices for the role of Kyle Reese, as was Garrett Hedlund, but neither of them accepted the offer to come in and do a screen test.

Realizing they had overestimated big-name actors’ desire to be in a Terminator movie – especially one as late in the game as Genisys – the producers opened up the casting search to lesser-known performers.

8 Sarah: Emily Blunt

When the producers of Terminator Genisys were trying to cast a new actor to play Sarah Connor, they considered the first actor whose name comes up when Hollywood wants a female action lead with plenty of pathos: Emily Blunt.

Blunt has a knack for turning down roles in big blockbuster movies, particularly the ones offered to her by Marvel, having turned down offers to play Black Widow, Peggy Carter, and Captain Marvel.

7 Kyle: Sam Reid

Sam Reid, formerly known as Sebastian Reid at the beginning of his career, was considered for the role of Kyle Reese when Terminator Genisys was in pre-production. Reid got his big break in the period drama Belle, a part that he landed when scheduling conflicts forced Sam Claflin to drop out.

Reid’s most recent work includes the TV series Lambs of God and The Hunting, and the movie Waiting for the Barbarians, which starred Mark Rylance and Robert Pattinson.

6 Kyle: Thomas Cocquerel

Thomas Cocquerel was initially under consideration for the role of Kyle Reese when the Genisys producers decided to look at lesser-known actors for the part. Cocquerel’s most famous role is that of screen legend Errol Flynn in the biopic In Like Flynn.

Cocquerel didn’t clinch the role of Reese, obviously, but it did go to a fellow Australian: Jai Courtney. Cocquerel’s upcoming projects include Escape Room 2, a sequel to 2019’s Escape Room, which he didn’t appear in.

5 Sarah: Brie Larson

Brie Larson was up for the role of Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys before Emilia Clarke was cast. Larson has been detailing a lot of her unsuccessful auditions for Hollywood tentpoles on her new YouTube channel.

Before landing the role of Captain Marvel, she was passed up for Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, a bunch of Disney’s Star Wars movies, Avatar, Pitch Perfect, Sucker Punch, Book of Eli, Jennifer’s Body, Legion, Tomorrowland, Into the Woods, Halt and Catch Fire, and The Big Bang Theory.

4 Kyle: Wilson Bethel

Best known for his TV roles as Wade Kinsella in Hart of Dixie, Ryder Callahan in The Young and the Restless, and Agent Dex in Daredevil, Wilson Bethel was initially considered to play Kyle Reese in Terminator Genisys.

Bethel hasn’t had much in the way of film work – although he did play an LAPD officer in Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice – so a role in a Terminator movie (although not necessarily this Terminator movie) could’ve done wonders for his career.

3 Kyle: Taylor Kitsch

Before Jai Courtney was cast to play the new version of Kyle Reese in the Terminator franchise’s fifth entry (and second reboot), Taylor Kitsch was under consideration for the role.

Kitsch hasn’t had the best luck in the realm of blockbuster cinema. In the summer of 2012, a lucrative career as a movie star was ahead of him as he led the alien-infested movie adaptation of the Battleship board game and a live-action John Carter movie that promised to kickstart a franchise, but both bombed at the box office.

2 Sarah: Margot Robbie

Before Emilia Clarke became the second Game of Thrones cast member to play Sarah Connor (after Lena Headey played the part in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Margot Robbie was considered for the role.

Robbie is no stranger to playing fan-favorite characters in big-budget blockbusters, having been the only part of Suicide Squad that received any kind of praise from critics. She’s also currently working on a female-led reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with the screenwriter behind Birds of Prey.

1 Kyle: Boyd Holbrook

After screen-testing a few different actors for the role of Kyle Reese, the Genisys producers narrowed the shortlist down to Boyd Holbrook and Jai Courtney. Of course, the latter ended up clinching the part.

Holbrook’s career has been doing fine in the years since, as he was cast as the main villain in Logan and the lead role in The Predator.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
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Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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