Robert Patrick, best known to many audiences as the unstoppable T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, didn't start out aiming to be an actor.
In a new interview with wall street journal, He revealed that he was interested in acting from an early age, but didn't pursue it because “it didn't happen in my family.”
Instead, while living in the Cleveland area, he worked in a bank and dabbled in modeling, but then a life-altering boating accident inspired him to pursue his dreams.
Patrick said: “In 1984, I was piloting a friend's 30-foot boat when it capsized and sank.Five people, including my brother Lewis, were in the water.The boat was not properly prepared. There wasn't,” he said.
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“Terminator 2” star Robert Patrick said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he always wanted to be an actor, but never thought he could pursue it as a career, or that he never intended to pursue it. Ta. (Desiree Navarro/Wire Image)
He went on to say he swam 3.5 miles to shore to get help.
“Every time I had a stroke, I prayed and promised myself that if I survived, I would pursue acting,” he recalls.
Patrick ended up at a yacht club in Cleveland where he received help and “rescued everyone.”
After that, he vowed to “move to New York or Los Angeles and become an actor. I flipped a coin and it was LA that I packed my bags and drove out.”
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After the boating accident, Patrick swam to shore and said, “I prayed and vowed that if I survived, I would pursue acting.'' (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
He said, “I had a terrible attitude at first, but I had the look and the swagger and the things that people noticed. Things quickly clicked.”
Patrick lived in his car until he met a woman who offered him an apartment and told him about a nearby restaurant that was hiring. There he met someone who encouraged him to audition for a play because “they needed me to create an edgy presence.”
He had several roles in films such as Eye of the Eagle and Roger Corman's Warlords from Hell before appearing in Die Hard 2.
The now 65-year-old says, “I realized I was an artist before I felt like an artist. It came from within me.''
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Patrick says his breakout role as T-1000 in Terminator 2 came after Billy Idol was forced to leave the role due to a motorcycle accident. (via CBS, Getty Images)
In a 2015 interview with NPR, Patrick recalled, “I saw the Hollywood sign. I was sitting there looking at the Hollywood sign and thinking, 'Okay, here I am, let's make something happen.'” .
He said of getting the role in Die Hard 2: “I went to my car and literally sat there and cried a little bit. I remember that. I was so happy.”
After his role in Die Hard 2, Patrick starred in Terminator 2: Judgment Day as a shape-shifting villain who takes on the heroic original Terminator, reprogrammed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was cast in the role of T-1000.
In a 2017 interview with Salon magazine, Patrick said that he almost lost his iconic role to Billy Idol after a motorcycle accident, saying, “This is how a young Robert Patrick went to the great casting director Mari… It paved the way for me to audition for Finn.”
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Patrick said that many of his roles in Terminator 2 came from auditions. (via CBS, Getty Images)
According to the actor, “[Director] “Director James Cameron was looking for the unknown.”Patrick has appeared in several films in addition to Die Hard 2, and was also doing theater at the time he was cast.
He reflected on creating such a memorable character. “Basically, what you see on screen is what I came up with during the audition. I hadn't even seen the script yet, but once I read it, I knew my instincts were right.” “
His role in Terminator 2 was also another life-changing moment for the actor, who was battling drug and alcohol addiction at the time of his role.
“When I got this role, I was actively involved in drugs and alcohol, unbeknownst to anyone who was hiring me,” he told Salon. “I was a consumer. I used to smoke two packs a day. As a former athlete, I found myself doing one of the most athletically challenging things of my life, so I smoked them. I thought I had to avoid everything. I set everything up. “Down, cold turkey. From before training, during filming, and until I wrapped, I didn't take any alcohol or drugs.''
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Actor Robert Patrick attends the premiere of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' in Century City, California on July 1, 1991. (Ron Galella, Ltd/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Patrick admitted that he continued to struggle with alcohol even after filming ended, and wasn't completely sober until 1996 when he did Striptease with Demi Moore.
“I've been sober for 21 years, and my life has benefited greatly,” he said at the time. “I have sponsors and I try to live by example. I'm a devout Anglican, but it took me a long time to be honest and know myself. It was spirituality.”
His career continued in film and television, with a total of 169 credits to date. Most recently, he appeared in season 2 of the Amazon Prime series Reacher.
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Patrick said his sobriety has benefited his life and believes his Anglican faith has helped his quality of life. (Erica Goldring/Getty Images)
“You can fail, and I've failed many times, but you have to find faith in something. Otherwise, you'll end up living your life thinking, 'I should have done that.' “It will be,” he told NPR.
“I'm not living the life I wish I could live. I'm living the life I wanted to live, and that's the satisfaction I have every day.”
