Leaner Lena Headey too 'emaciated' for role in the TV Terminator

While the show made an impressive debut, with more than 18million US viewers last week, Headey's lean physique has quickly been put under the microscope, with some deeming her unsuitable for the part.

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The role was first made famous by iron-pumping Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Hamilton turned the character into a "butt-kicking inspiration to millions of women," according to the Los Angeles Times.

But now a critic writing for the paper says: "Some who worship at the altar of Sarah Connor detect heresy in the casting of Headey, who's healthy-looking and attractive but not exactly Ms Olympia."

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Others are less gentle in their criticism of the West Yorkshire-born actress, whose films credits include The Remains Of The Day, 300 and St Trinian's. Boston Herald critic Mark Perigard wrote: "I'd like to give her time - and some pasta - to help her grow into her jeans. Headey looks remarkably like actress Lara Flynn Boyle. She's a twig of an action heroine."

The Sarah Connor Charm School, a Terminator fan group which focuses on "physical feminist empowerment", is also unimpressed by the choice.

The group's spokesperson Kym Lambert said: "We were very upset to find out that a very thin and non-athletic actress had been chosen out of, supposedly, hundreds to play a role that we as physical feminists found so inspiring."

British feminist and novelist Bidisha echoed the group's concerns.

She said: "I am shocked to find out that the producers are clearly sanctioning a new, weedy silhouette in such an iconic and genuinely groundbreaking role.

"There are two issues here: having a toothpick-thin, feeble-looking Sarah Connor is a crime against the iconography of the character; and presenting a clearly emaciated actress as a heroine is a crime against women."

For her part, Headey has played down the unflattering comparions to Hamilton, blaming her lack of bulging biceps on a shortage of time to work out.

She has said: "The film had the luxury of more money and more time."

"If they were going to give me a month, and a trainer every day, and a chef, then it would be fantastic... it's a TV show, for God's sake!"

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which also sees British star Owain Yeoman fill Arnold Schwarzenegger's original part, will air in the UK next month.