Terminator Star Addresses Returning for a 1990s Cult Sci-Fi Sequel [Exclusive]

The 1990s are rightly looked at as a high point for genre movies. It was the decade where IP across all major genres (action, horror, comedy, and sci-fi) graduated from indie and mid-budget beginnings to blockbuster-level films. But while there were big movies in every genre that went on to become classics, the ’90s also gave rise to a new crop of filmmakers willing to break barriers and bridge genres, creating new kinds of films that became cult hits for a generation of fans.

Actor Robert Patrick is one of the bigger icons to emerge from ’90s cinema. Patrick had a breakout role trading gunshots with Bruce Willis’ John McClane, as one of the main terrorist henchmen in Die Hard 2 (1990). He next became an international star, thanks to his role as the relentless “T-1000” in James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991). Playing a killer robot from the future cemented Patrick in the ’90s pop-culture zeitgeist, so much so that he made cameos as the character in other films like Wayne’s World and the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-satire film Last Action Hero. However, eventually Patrick needed to move on to other roles: he landed supporting roles in hit films like Rosewood (1997) and Cop Land (1997), but it wasn’t until 1999 that he arguably got his next iconic role, in Robert Rodriguez’s high school horror film, The Faculty.

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The Faculty tells the story of a small town high school that gets targeted for an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style takeover by a parasitic alien. Patrick’s football coach, Joe Willis, is the first on the school’s faculty to get infected, turning the emotionally-explosive old jock into a docile silver-tongued charmer, with the actor always flashing his signature wolfish stare. By the end of The Faculty, Patrick was chewing scenery in over-the-top mania. It was proof that, for all his impressive range as an actor, Robert Patrick is always at his best in a villain role.

Robert Patrick Addresses The Faculty Sequel (And If He Would Ever Do It)

Robert Patrick is dipping back into horror with his latest film, the action-comedy-horror-thriller Mermaid. ComicBook got a chance to sit down with Patrick during the press junket. We had to ask how he personally feels about The Faculty, 27 years later, and if he would ever want to play in that world again, via a sequel or some other project. For his part, Robert Patrick still claims that The Faculty is “a good movie” in his filmography. When it comes to the possibility of him returning? He’s more than game for it.

“I would love that,” Patrick said. “There was some talent in that movie. Shawn Hatosy. Josh Hartnett. Jordana Brewster. Elijah Wood. Clea DuVall. Usher. Famke Janssen. Salma Hayek. Jon Stewart. The late, great Piper Laurie. Bebe Neuwirth. I had fun with that one.”

Indeed, The Faculty was a one-of-a-kind collection of talent that all went on to do bigger things in the 2000s. Elijah Wood became an icon as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy; Josh Hartnett became one of the top young leading men/heartthrobs of the decade; Jordana Brewster became a star of the Fast and the Furious franchise; Clea DuVall had a prestigious career doing more horror films like Identity or starring in HBO’s cult-hit supernatural mystery series Carnivale; Famke Janssen became a pioneer of comic book movies as Jean Grey in the X-Men films; John Stewart became the iconic host of The Daily Show, while the career trajectories of director Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City) Salma Hayek, and Usher need no explanation.

Robert Patrick also saw his career hit a hot streak after The Faculty: He landed roles in now-famous films like Clint Eastwood’s WWII drama Flags of Our Fathers, John Cena’s The Marine, the Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, and the acclaimed sports biopic We Are Marshall. He did even better as a television star, landing the main lead in the 2000s reboot of The X-Files (2000-2002), a lead role in playwright David Mamet’s acclaimed military drama series The Unit (2006-2009), with guest star or bit roles in so many major shows, including Stargate Atlantis, Lost, Avatar: The Last Airbender, NCIS, Burn Notice, Law & Order: SVU and more.

Why The Faculty Totally Needs A Sequel (Or Reboot)

The Faculty was a self-contained story, but it always left enough room for the larger lore of the invading alien race to continue in a new setting. Rodriguez’s film had deep subtext about teen angst as the 21st century approached: loneliness and social ostracism, drug use, conformity vs. rebellion, sexual identity… The Faculty used body-snatching horror and hive-mind brainwashing as a metaphor for it all. So, unless those themes have gone out of fashion with today’s youth (major sarcasm!), an IP like The Faculty is arguably more relevant than ever.

You can stream The Faculty on various DSPs. Mermaid will hit theaters on April 8th.