Thomas Dekker\John Connor Appreciation Thread



(made by *Catherine*)

Quotes from Thomas
Thomas: I love acting because it's an artistic way to release the million different personalities I have in my head.

Thomas:(When asked who his role model is) River Phoenix. I watched all of his films and thought he did some really revolutionary stuff for his age.

Thomas: I knew it would frustrate some people in the first season with the performance I did because I wanted him to be kind of weak
and hide behind his hair and sit behind the computer and people to go, ‘This isn’t the savior of the world, where’s he?’ so that then we
could watch him shift. I felt that doing what he does just wouldn’t happen, I think there has to be things that occur that just build
up till the end of this thing and that’s what happens. So this is so great, I just get to play rage and bitterness and power
that I didn’t get to do at all last year, by my own choice.

Thomas: What? What?! I'm not having him (Christian Bale) on the show. I'm intimidated.
I'm intimidated! No, no, no. He's Batman and come on, no!

Thomas: [My character John Connor] undergoes a lot of changes in the coming episodes and season.
It was intentional. Anyone who was afraid that my John was a little too weak will be pleasantly surprised in
the second season. It was always the plan that I would go through a transformation and become a bad ass.
I have to prove I am not a wimp and it’s going to be fun. We wanted it to start small and then make audiences go, ‘Oh s—.’”

Interviewer: How much creativity with the character did they let you have?
Thomas: I have to say that everyone involved has been awesome with allowing all of us to feel it out.
It happens often in television that it’s like, ‘This is how you do it.’ It’s hard for me because I started acting
by inventing characters from the ground up. Obviously, we had these references to what people had
previously done, which all of us took into consideration. For me it was a question of maintaining Connor’s
instincts, but placing him in a more adult situation, a place where he needed to have his head down and
be more mature. It was funny because I went in for the very first audition and I was one of the very first
people they read. I did the first scene and the casting director looked at me and she said, ‘I don’t
need to see anybody else, you’re John Connor.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ I was not expecting that at all.
I still auditioned a lot of times because I had a lot of people to convince.

Interviewer: You’re bringing back the John character. How do you feel?
Thomas: Honored and scared. I hope people like what I’m doing with him. It’s tough as an actor.
You want to be creative, but you have to live up to what’s already been done. You’re never
going to please everybody.

Interviewer: Do you miss that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not in this show.
Thomas: No, I don’t, I don’t miss Arnold because I wouldn’t have Summer Glau [Cameron Phillips, a Terminator infiltration
unit sent back to protect John Connor and Sarah Connor from Skynet]. She’s the best. Of course, we miss Arnold.
The audiences, I’m sure, miss Arnold, but I think our point was that this is The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It is about
her journey. It is about her struggle and John and now Cameron. That’s a totally different timeline and I think that
they were very clever to cast Summer as the Terminator rather than a big hulking guy because there are so many
places you can go with John and her that you couldn’t have gone, unless it was getting into some really weird
territory which I don’t think they were planning on doing.

The TV Addict: How do you feel about being here in Toronto right now instead of the Warner Bros.
lot shooting season three of the show?
Thomas: I definitely miss the show a lot. In fact, it sort of catches me off guard how much
I miss the show sometimes. I really miss the people I got to work with everyday and the environment
of knowing where you were working on a daily basis. And of course, the story. I loved the story and I
knew where the third season was going and I thought it was just so cool. I love that Josh
[Executive Producer Josh Friedman] had the balls to make everybody kind of wait, and be patient.
Unfortunately I guess people really weren’t that willing to be patient.

The TV Addict:What inspired you to take to the internet and post a video on YouTube video?
Thomas: I was in Chicago doing the movie and we were shooting nightshifts. Having just
woken up, I was surfing the net just to see how people were reacting to the show and I found
myself really touched by videos, blogs and all these things that random people of all ages
and groups had done to try and save the show. It was nice to get the affirmation that people
wanted more of something we worked so hard on. So I just kind of thought it would be
funny of me to ask FOX to give me my job for another year. I really just wanted to make something
to let them [the fans] know that we knew they were trying and we appreciated it and appreciate them.
The best part was that a lot of people though that I was drunk, stoned or *****ed up.
Which tends to happen a lot of my stuff. I can assure you, I have many moments of non-sobriety
but that wasn’t one of them. It’s actually really funny that I sort of come off as a crack head even though I’m not.

Thomas: So yeah, I’m getting to do all this stuff, but it’s not the family like TERMINATOR. I miss the family.


Quotes from John
John: I can't keep running. I can't. I'm not who they think I am, some Messiah.

John: I know. I can't lead an army. Maybe that's you, but it will never be me, so you've got to stop it.

John: You’ve reached the future leader of mankind, may take me a little while to get back to you, but leave a message anyway.

John: My dad's always a hero. And he's always dead.

John: What? We went, we learned, I didn’t get killed, and she didn’t kill anybody. It’s a pretty good first day, I think.

John: Isn’t that what I’m suppose to be, a hero? Isn’t that who I am? If it’s gonna sit inside me, if it’s gonna
sit in my gut, then what are we doing? What’s the point? Why not just give it to them if we're gonna act like them!

John: A good code is like a good song in your head - it's gotta come out.

John: Well, I guess when they say you can't fight City Hall, they really mean it.

John: You don't have to trust her. You can trust me.

John: (referring to Cameron) It's not gonna be this one.

John: Because one of the boys is still wanted for murder, and one of the girls is harder than nuclear nails.

John: No, a birthday's like a holiday. Like once a year, every year, people just kind of celebrate you, I guess.
And you get presents and you eat cake and it's fun. It's supposed to be. Last year, mom got me a flak jacket.

John:(to Cameron) Are you here to kill me?

John: Then why didn't you protect me when I was killing Sarkissian? Why didn't you protect me when
I had my hands around this throat? Why didn't you protect me from that?

John: Cause that's what we do. When we, uh...when we see something that's, uh...in pain, or in
trouble, or whatever, we try and help it.

John: She was engaged once. This pretty cool guy. Didn't work out. He's kinda the only friend we had.
A little while ago, he, uh...helped us with something. There was an accident and his new wife died. And he left.
That's what happens. I shouldn't be around people.

John: You know me in the future. What would "Future me" do?

John: I made the call. Live with it.

John: Let me repeat what she said. If you had a photo of your brother, would you or would you not look at it?

John: Cameron. Do you think it's possible for me to know something that future John doesn't know?

John: (to Cameron) Why would I want to kill you?

John: (to Sarah) You don't know anything.

John: You know, I've been running from the machines my whole life. They tried to kill my mom before I was even born.
When I was twelve they sent one after me. I was a kid and I was stupid. I didn't know what it was all about.
Both times future me sent someone back to stop them. The first time it was a soldier. His name was Kyle Reese,
and he died saving my mother's life. The second time it was a machine, and I used to wonder why I did that. Why I took that chance.
I don't wonder anymore. Human beings can't be replaced. They can't be rebuilt. They die and they never come back.
You know, it was Derek who told me, if that's what you're wondering. He loves you, Derek. You and me,
we're the only things he has in this world. The only things. He's like Riley in that way. See, she made mistakes.
Small things, sometimes. A word or a phrase. Carrots and apples. I'm guessing that's yours.
When we were in Mexico she heard my real name, she ignored it. A man took my picture and she destroyed his camera.
She put herself between me and a machine that was hunting me. So one day I realized she wasn't treating me
like John Baum, she was treating me like John Connor.

John: That's just the thing, isn't it? I am John Connor.

Reasons
Thomas
Because Thomas gets to hang out with Summer and Lena.
Because he can make guyliner look good!
Because his unconventional style is refreshing
Because he loves playing that John Connor dude
Because he's unusual photoshoots make us giggle
Because he went half-naked for his show
Because he called Fox and fought for our show!
Because "Daddy's got bills to pay!"

John
Because John Connor makes blinking look hot!
Because he's the savior of man kind.
Because he's kind, brave and compassionate.
Because he's a true hero.
Because he will save the world someday.
Because he cares too much about people and machines alike.
Because he was destined to be a leader.
Because he's a messiah going through puberty.

Possible titles
"I really had personally just the best time doing that show, I loved everybody I worked with."
"It sometimes still upsets me that Terminator ended after two seasons, because I
really loved playing the role."
"Thomas Dekker is amazing, he is really really talented and just a great guy." - Leven
Because he's "a crazy kid and he kind of brings out the crazy side in me." - Leven