James Cameron had laid out a shooting schedule for Terminator 2 that stretched six to eight months. As the future savior of mankind in the film, nearly every scene featured Ryan, who could only follow the crew as they traveled all over California.
Among the locations were the Santa Monica shopping plaza where John Connor first meets the two Terminators, and the flood control channel in San Fernando.
There was also the psychiatric treatment center at Lake View Cinema in Los Angeles, where he personally experienced the conditions faced by mental illness patients.
Originally, this part wasn't in Cameron's script, but under Linda Hamilton's strong insistence, he and young William Wisher rewrote it. And this tough woman indeed showed an astonishing side.
Yes, although Linda Hamilton didn't look as muscular in real life as in the movie, she had indeed gained a good amount of muscle. Ryan heard her say that to play the role well, she hired a former Israeli Defense Forces lieutenant colonel to train her. During thirteen weeks of training, she trained six days a week, three hours each day. Not only did she lose 12 pounds of fat, but she also appeared much tougher and stronger overall.
Becoming a good actor is truly not easy! That was Ryan's only sentiment.
Of course, there were plenty of issues during filming, but as a minor, Ryan was a key protected figure in the crew, so most of the troubles fell on others.
For example, during the chase scene in the flood channel, there were several slick gun-spinning moves by Arnold, but a serious accident occurred while filming. While spinning a shotgun, his finger got caught on the trigger, almost severing the entire finger. Thus, the indestructible T-800 had to be taken to the hospital for recovery.
Also, during that chase scene, the truck the crew had prepared was way too tall for the overpass bridge, which triggered a furious outburst from Cameron.
"You guys didn't do a location survey? Sorry? You think saying sorry will rewind time? Two hours! I'm giving you just two hours. If you can't fix this, the entire props team is fired!"
Upon hearing him yell, Ryan remembered that this part of the script differed from the version in his past life. His eyes rolled slightly, and he stepped forward. "Jim, why not tweak the script a little? Like having Robert crash into the bridge and shave off the top of the truck? That way, it highlights the ruthless nature of the T-1000 and adds impact to the scene."
"Great idea." Cameron clapped his hands. "Ryan, I should've had you co-write the script with me!"
Work with you? Ryan looked at the tyrant heading toward the props team and curled his lips. Only if I go insane!
"Ryan, are you always full of these clever ideas?" Robert Patrick, the actor playing the T-1000, was the total opposite of his character—friendly and full of smiles in real life.
"Hey, Mr. T-1000, you're not planning to strike now, are you? The T-800 is out for repairs; don't take advantage of the situation." Ryan joked back with him.
Speaking of which, Robert Patrick joining the cast was a stroke of luck. Originally, Cameron had planned to cast Billy Idol in the role, and Idol had agreed. But fate seemed to favor the boy—just days before filming started, the unlucky rock star got into a motorcycle accident, colliding with a truck like a real-life T-1000. He was expected to be bedridden for months.
There were many action scenes during filming, and bumps and bruises were inevitable. Before shooting started, the crew had hired a stunt coach for Ryan, but the coach only gave him two safety training sessions. To quote what he told Cameron: "Ryan is incredibly agile—like a monkey. None of the stunts in the movie are a challenge for him. The only thing he needs to learn is how to protect himself during filming."
"Jim, I've been training at least an hour a day since I was five. After coming back to L.A. from London, both Nicole and I had professional fitness coaches. You really don't need to worry."
Ryan only told half the truth. While his agility did owe much to consistent training, it had more to do with his past life. For an orphan across the ocean, being uncoordinated meant starving and being bullied. Climbing, stealing, brawling—those were just day-to-day skills.
Besides, he wasn't starring in a kung fu flick. His skills were more than enough for this film.
Although James Cameron was already showing his talent for burning through money, he wasn't as wild as he'd become later. When it came time to save money, he definitely wouldn't waste it.
To cut costs on hiring extras, many roles were filled by crew members. Cameron himself even played John Connor's foster father, though his appearance was almost too pitiful to watch.
"Jim, any kid would turn into a rebellious teenager with a foster dad like you," Ryan poked fun. "Look what happened, Mr. Director—you made the whole crew go through thirteen takes. You should pay their overtime from your own pocket."
"Oh, come on, Ryan. You're just mad I'm your foster dad in the film." Cameron waved his hand and sat back in the director's chair.
When filming the shootout scene between the T-1000 and the T-800 in the Santa Monica shopping plaza, something even more surprising happened. One of Cameron's Japanese friends flew all the way from Tokyo to L.A. just to make a cameo in the movie—and asked for no compensation.
He was the guy who gets gunned down in the hallway during John Connor's first encounter with the T-800.
By late December, as location shooting in California was wrapping up, a large group of reporters and paparazzi swarmed the set again.
James Cameron had a decent habit—his productions always started quietly. Terminator 2 was no exception. But once the investment amount was leaked, the media went wild. However, after failing to dig up any juicy exclusives, the reporters slowly backed off.
Though a few stray paparazzi still popped up now and then, the past two months had been relatively peaceful, with little disruption. That also had a lot to do with Annette Hurd occasionally releasing filming updates.
But this time, the number of reporters was overwhelming—the chaos was seriously affecting filming, and James Cameron was furious. After scolding the production's spokesperson, he quickly figured out the cause.
"Ryan! Where's Ryan?"
"He's in the trailer, resting," someone replied.
"Go get him!"
As filming progressed, Ryan had grown more in tune with his character and found acting easier. He'd even tossed aside the Terminator 2 script—other than reviewing it before shooting, he rarely looked at it anymore. He was now reclining in a high-backed chair, coloring concept art for True Lies with colored pencils.
"What? Jim wants to see me? I thought I didn't have any scenes this morning." Seeing the assistant rush in, Ryan reluctantly put away his sketch and headed to the set.
But the moment he stepped out of the trailer, he was greeted by a noisy commotion—like a morning market. No, more like a hundred thousand green-headed flies buzzing at once.
He knew the sound all too well—who else could it be but reporters and paparazzi?
"What the heck? So many reporters?" Ryan mumbled as he walked to the set.
"Ryan Jenkins! You've got a lot of nerve asking me what's going on!" Cameron snapped. The boy was confused. "What happened, Jim? Who made you this mad? Don't tell me it was Linda?"
"All those reporters and paparazzi are here for you!"
"For me? What for?" Ryan scratched his head. Sure, the media had already exposed his role in Terminator 2, and even if they wanted to hype it, the buzz should've died down by now. Why show up now?
"You're asking me? I should be asking you!"
From Cameron's perspective, the boy was incredibly smart—after the first few days, his performance had been flawless. But when he got annoying, he could make you want to scream.
Fine! Maybe Cameron was just annoyed that all these reporters came to his set… to ask about someone else's movie. Who wouldn't be pissed?
"Ryan, haven't you read the papers lately?" his assistant asked as she came over.
"Nope. I've been running around with the crew all day. Either filming or sketching. When would I have time to read the paper? Besides, I'm not about to torture my eyes. The tabloids have almost turned me into a monster."
"Today, the North American box office numbers for Home Alone's fourth week were released. Do you know how much it made?"
"Hey, just say it—don't keep me in suspense," Ryan said, finally catching on.
"Over $150 million!"
"One hundred and fifty million? That's not much," Ryan scratched his head. Having lived through a lifetime of blockbuster films, that number didn't impress him.
Everyone around him rolled their eyes, clearly tempted to drag him out for a good beating. One assistant director couldn't take it anymore and stepped forward: "Ryan, I think you know very well this film only cost $18 million to make—including marketing. It's only been out for four weeks, and many critics think it could compete with The Sixth Sense at the box office."
"Kid, barring any surprises, the top two spots on this year's North American box office chart are yours," Cameron sighed. Though Ryan wasn't even in the same industry as him yet, the thought still gave him a "youth surpasses the old guard" kind of feeling—if only he understood Chinese.
Well duh! That was the plan all along. Ryan shrugged. The reason he chose these two films as his starting point was exactly because of their massive influence.
Although for most child stars, being associated with a memorable childhood role could be a burden, Ryan had a hundred ways to reinvent himself effortlessly once he hit sixteen.