Linda Hamilton Came Close To Retiring Before Landing Stranger Things Role

Linda Hamilton is getting ready to star in the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things, revealing that if it hadn't been for this role -- she may have thrown in the towel on her acting career. "I literally felt like I was an actress getting my first meaningful part," Hamilton told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's funny, how it recycles. It's not that I felt forgotten, but I was actually talking about retirement, not because there isn't enough to do, but just I'm tired of being tough," she added. "My hip was hurting for a couple of years and I was like, 'I'm just so tired of being tough, and I just want to be able to make plans and make sure I can be there,' because actors never, ever can be there when they say they're going to be there," The Terminator star told the publication. The 67-year-old said she "complained" to her agent about the pain she felt while preparing for season 3 of Resident Alien. "I was like, 'Dude, I don't even know if I'm going to get there. I hurt,'" she recalled. "And he’s like, 'Oh, you don't mean that.'" Hamilton is an action movie icon, who first fought Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984's The Terminator, and then reunited with her costar for the two follow-up films. However, once she mentioned the idea of retirement to her agent, Stranger Things came knocking. "Cut to two weeks or so later, Stranger Things called him and said, 'Is Linda Hamilton available from June to June?' And he went, 'Yes.' He didn't even ask me." She insisted that even if she did go into retirement, she would have come right back out just to star in the sci-fi drama series. Despite being excited to be a part of the series, she said her casting "ruined the show" for her. "When you really buy into something, you don't see yourself in it," she said to Us Weekly. "I never watch [a project] once I'm in something. It would just completely take me out of the reality of it to see myself in there." It's safe to say Hamilton won't be watching season 5.

Apr 17, 2024 - 13:02

Linda Hamilton Came Close To Retiring Before Landing Stranger Things Role

"It's not that I felt forgotten," the 67-year-old action star said. "But I was actually talking about retirement, not because there isn't enough to do, but just I'm tired of being tough."

Linda Hamilton is getting ready to star in the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things, revealing that if it hadn't been for this role -- she may have thrown in the towel on her acting career.

"I literally felt like I was an actress getting my first meaningful part," Hamilton told The Hollywood Reporter.

"It's funny, how it recycles. It's not that I felt forgotten, but I was actually talking about retirement, not because there isn't enough to do, but just I'm tired of being tough," she added.

"My hip was hurting for a couple of years and I was like, 'I'm just so tired of being tough, and I just want to be able to make plans and make sure I can be there,' because actors never, ever can be there when they say they're going to be there," The Terminator star told the publication.

The 67-year-old said she "complained" to her agent about the pain she felt while preparing for season 3 of Resident Alien. "I was like, 'Dude, I don't even know if I'm going to get there. I hurt,'" she recalled. "And he’s like, 'Oh, you don't mean that.'"

Hamilton is an action movie icon, who first fought Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984's The Terminator, and then reunited with her costar for the two follow-up films.

However, once she mentioned the idea of retirement to her agent, Stranger Things came knocking.

"Cut to two weeks or so later, Stranger Things called him and said, 'Is Linda Hamilton available from June to June?' And he went, 'Yes.' He didn't even ask me."

She insisted that even if she did go into retirement, she would have come right back out just to star in the sci-fi drama series.

Despite being excited to be a part of the series, she said her casting "ruined the show" for her.

"When you really buy into something, you don't see yourself in it," she said to Us Weekly. "I never watch [a project] once I'm in something. It would just completely take me out of the reality of it to see myself in there."

It's safe to say Hamilton won't be watching season 5.