Did Clarke have any trepidation about playing Sarah Connor?

"Naïvely I was like, 'Why would I not want to do this?'...It was only after the fact that I was like, 'Do you have any idea what you've taken on?'"

The actress added, "I tried very hard to be a badass movie star."

Clarke was also excited to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It was brilliant because you're like, 'Ah! This is it! This is it! I'm meeting the icon.' And he is everything that you see, everything that you hear. Meet him in person and it is exactly that," she said. "He's really funny and he doesn't take anything seriously. He was like a joy to have on set. He really, really was fun."

Still, Clarke and her co-stars were nervous to meet the action star. "Before he walked in the room, everyone was kind of tense and quiet and you can hear a pin drop. Then he comes in and he's just brilliant and relaxed and calm and lovely and kind and funny," the actress said. "And you're like, 'Oh, this is not scary at all.'"