Veteran actress Linda Hamilton made a cameo in the AMC series Dark Winds. Hamilton shared how the role of Barbara Sena, a woman with dementia, had a deep personal connection for her. She also expressed her desire to “show the poignance of someone” with dementia and how “people around them are missing them while they’re right there.”
Linda Hamilton’s Dark Winds Season 4 cameo was to honor mother with dementia
Linda Hamilton, best known for her role in the Terminator franchise, recently made a cameo appearance in the premiere of Dark Winds Season 4. She appeared as Barbara Sena, the wife of Scarborough Police Department Acting Chief Gordo Sena. It is soon revealed in the show that she has dementia.
To step into the shoes of this character, Hamilton drew from her own mother, who was also named Barbara and had dementia.
“My mother had dementia for 25 years,” Hamilton told PEOPLE, “I swear to you, I went in for the fitting and the whole thing takes place in the ’70s, and they pulled out some shoes for my character that were my mother’s shoes. I mean, they were the exact color of taupe that my mother would wear to extend the leg. And it was a very specific color from the ’70s, ’80s. It just felt really sweet to be doing this to kind of honor her.”
Her character in the show seems unaware of how much her condition has deteriorated, a common factor in dementia patients. “I have spent a lot of time wondering, ‘When does a person know? Do you know?’” she said, “never really witnessed that part of dementia where someone really knows that they’re losing it. So, it is a fine balance [to portray]. I have some friends now that are going through that, and have watched them over the years kind of fail mentally. So, there’s every good reason to play this part.”
She added that she tried to “show the poignance of someone” with dementia and how “people around them are missing them while they’re right there.”
Dark Winds Season 4 Episode 1 is now streaming on AMC+.
