10 Clever Tricks You Didn’t Realise Movies Played On You

10. Terminator 2's Mirror Scene

Mirror scenes have forever caused headaches for filmmakers over the decades, with those involved having to come up with numerous ways of shooting a mirror sequence without actually having their filming equipment visible in said mirror.

One of the very best ways such a problem was dealt with, was in James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

There, in one of the sequel's most memorable moments, Sarah Connor is seen operating on the T-800's head. Of course, this all takes place in front of a mirror as Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator unit talks Connor through the process.

How did Cameron and his crew manage to pull off this sequence without having cameras and other tech gear visible in the mirror? Why, that's because there was no actual mirror.

Instead, the 'mirror' is in reality a window. The T-800 visible in the 'mirror' is indeed Das Arnold, but the T-800 who Sarah is tinkering with is merely a dummy. As for Sarah, it is actress Linda Hamilton who is stood next to the dummy, and, in a stroke of fortune/genius, it's Hamilton's twin sister Leslie who can be seen in the 'mirror' next to Schwarzenegger.

Hopefully that all makes sense, but if not, Insider.com has the fantastic below video to break all of this down further.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 23rd Sep 2022

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Terminator 2: Judgment Day MCU Avengers: Endgame