Linda Hamilton Talks ‘Resident Alien’ Season 3, Reveals She Nearly Retired Before ‘Stranger Things’ Casting (Exclusive)

General McAllister’s unlikely alliance with Harry is bringing a whole new dynamic to Season 3 of Resident Alien. Ahead of the Feb. 14 premiere of the SYFY show’s highly-anticipated new season, Linda Hamilton opened up to PopCulture.com about how Harry (Alan Tudyk) turns things upside down in the world of her straight-laced character – and how the Terminator icon nearly retired from acting before a call from Stranger Things.

In the Season 2 finale of Resident Alien, McAllister and Harry decided to band together to save Earth from the Greys – a decision Hamilton didn’t see coming. “I thought that it would be years and years of me chasing him,” Hamilton admitted. “Really in the first Terminator, Arnold [Schwarzenegger] and I barely work together. … So it’s like that. When do I get to work with Alan?”

Having now worked closely with Tudyk for a season, Hamilton admitted it’s “so much more fun” than just playing the General looking for Harry. “I’m the straight man, but the fact that we’re teaming up puts this funny new twist on everything because we’re still the same people trying to work together,” she teased. “And Harry is not the easiest. Harry is very all about Harry. So it comes with its own little obstacles. Us being on the same side does not mean we’re just perfect together, so that’s fun. …There’s a lot of opportunity there for the frustration and the comedy that comes with that.”

Working with Tudyk kept even a seasoned actor like Hamilton on her toes as well. “He’s really interesting to work with. And there are many days where I am not sure that I really have done everything successfully for the scene, because he’ll improvise, obviously building each scene, and he continues to build even on camera. So you don’t know when he’s done,” Hamilton shared. “There are times where I just will find myself losing my character because I’m so involved with his character and his presentation of character. …He’s incredibly touching at times, and he’s got a rhythm that is genius. It makes everything that he does just so good, but it’s hard to keep up with sometimes.”

Hamilton told PopCulture that she was actually ready to retire from acting recently, but a call from the Duffer brothers (Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer) about the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things has her “pushing [retirement] down the line for a while.” Hamilton admitted she “never saw [her Stranger Things casting] coming,” and was ready to put an end to her acting days after filming Season 3 of Resident Alien due to a “really serious hip issue” that was giving her some “gnarly pain.” 

She remembered calling her agent and telling him, “I’m tired of toughing it out. I’m going to quit. I mean, I don’t even know how I’m going to get this through the season of Resident Alien.” Two weeks later, however, Hamilton’s agent got a call from Stranger Things casting, and he immediately signed her on for the final season of the Netflix hit. “He didn’t even ask me,” Hamilton revealed. “He just knew the value of that interest and literally called me and said, ‘You have a meeting with the Duffer Brothers.’” She added, “Of course, I wanted to do it, but the fact that I just started talking about retirement, I thought it was very funny. …And my hip is better. So it’s funny how things work.”

While the nature of Hamilton’s role on Stranger Things remains a secret, she told PopCulture that she had “just started” shooting for the season. “I just came back last week from a very good hard week there,” she teased. “It’s going to be great. It’s just going to be great. I’m so excited. But that’s all I can say.”

Resident Alien returns for Season 3 on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 p.m. ET on SYFY with a premiere simulcast on USA. Episodes will be available on Peacock the next day. The first two seasons of Resident Alien are streaming now on Peacock and Netflix.