'Terminator' star is more than one tough mother

THE FIRST casualty of "Terminator Genisys" is likely to be whatever remains of Emilia Clarke's ability to move about the world unrecognized.

The British "Game of Thrones" star - whose platinum blonde wig is as essential to the character of Daenerys Targaryen as the three dragons she's raised from hatchlings - has been flying under the radar in her real life as a brunette.

"I can go out with the other ['Game of Thrones'] cast, and I will be the person taking photos of them with fans," Clarke said, laughing, in a recent phone interview.

"I predict that changes a bit now that I look like myself a bit more" as Sarah Connor in "Terminator Genisys," which opens July 1.

She's more than aware that she's not the first Sarah Connor, a role originated by Linda Hamilton, who played the mother of the future hero John Connor in "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

Clarke's "Game of Thrones" co-star Lena Headey also got there before her, starring in Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

"We literally just had a giggle about it," said Clarke of Headey, whose character, Cersei, has yet to meet hers in the world of "Thrones."

And, yes, she's onboard with my idea that Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in "Thrones," should portray Sarah in some future project.

"Oh, my God. Genius idea," she said. "Let's get on to casting, ASAP".

So, who's more badass: the mother of dragons or the mother of John Connor?

"I just don't know," Clarke said. "They are badass in so many different ways. I mean Sarah is a modern-day badass, I would say. Whereas Daenerys has . . . dragons.

"If Sarah couldn't have any weapons and Dany couldn't have any dragons, that would be an interesting fight," she said. "They'd probably get on. Complain about men, probably."

But not about Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gets to do battle with his younger self in "Genisys" while functioning as a father figure to Sarah.

"He is one of the funniest people I've ever met, actually," Clarke said. "He's brilliant. And he's so calm and chilled on set. He was just a joy to work with because he would just have this amazing ability to defuse every situation. It just made everything look so easy."

Preparing to play Sarah in the alternate timeline of "Genisys," where she's been raised with the knowledge of her destiny, called for a different set of skills.

"The guns are sort of the obvious one," Clarke said. "All this metal, and, yes, the gun training was a big part. She's pretty darn good at her weapons.

"There was a lot more kind of physical strength needed to play Sarah than to play Daenerys."

Given her schedule, keeping her strength up is probably as necessary for Clarke as for any of her characters.

"It's a monster," she said of the HBO show schedule.

Last year, she said, " 'Game of Thrones' filmed from July to December. 'Terminator' we filmed last year, kind of January to August, so I got to fit that in. And I'm just doing a movie right now in London, and then I'll go back to 'Game of Thrones.' "

So has she had a day off in the past five years?

"Maybe one. Christmas was free. I've been very, very lucky to be without too many days off."

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