Michael Biehn Is Your Future Boyfriend From The Past

I was 18 minutes and 53 seconds into a recent rewatch of Aliens when I realized that Michael Biehn is the action hero we all forgot about. Michael Biehn is the movie star we left behind. More than that, Michael Biehn is our future boyfriend from the past, and we should do all we can to bring him back into the 21st century zeitgeist.

Some of you might be asking yourself right now, “Who is Michael Biehn?” Michael Biehn is an actor who has been steadily working in film and television since the late 1970s. You might have first seen him as the random Rydell High School student that Danny Zuko punches in the gut in Grease. While his name might not ring a bell for some hardcore movie fans, the name Kyle Reese should. It’s the name of the hot freedom fighter who traveled back in time in The Terminator to save Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent to kill her before she could give birth to dystopian hero John Connor. He inadvertently influences history even more by falling in love with Sarah and fathering John Connor. Over the last three decades, he’s been played by Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Jackson, and will soon be portrayed by Jai Courteney, but he was originally played by Michael Biehn.

Today, the Terminator series has been rebooted numerous times and evolved so much that it’s practically its own modern mythology. However, when The Terminator was made, James Cameron was an unknown director working with an unknown female producer named Gale Anne Hurd on an original script that involved time travelers and indestructible robots. It wasn’t that big of a deal. When Biehn dropped in for his audition, he was understandably more excited for his audition for José Quintero’s new production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Still, he managed to win the part of Kyle Reese, and he made such an impression in the part that Cameron and Hurd called him in to play the strapping male lead in their follow up, Aliens.

James Remar was originally cast as Hicks, but when he dropped out last minute, Hurd called in Biehn. What made her (and Cameron) think the actor could play a soldier from the future who was tough, but responsible? Stoic, but romantic? Masculine, but enthralled with a strong female character? Well, because he kind of already did that when he played Kyle Reese.

Both Kyle Reese and Hicks are solid movie boyfriends who happen to exist in a future that was, uh, predicted in the past. It’s not only interesting that Cameron used Biehn in both roles, but that both roles define masculinity in such similar ways. Both heroes are defined by their duty, their missions, and by the fact that they aren’t intimidated by powerful women. On the contrary, they are attracted to them. Kyle is in love with Sarah because of her courage and it’s his belief in her that kind of inspires her to morph into the heroine that we see in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

In Aliens, Hicks is one of the first people do respect Ripley for her abilities and they two lean on each other and respect one another after the shit gets real. While Hicks never gets a chance to get down and dirty with Ripley in Aliens, Biehn finds a way to make handing off a tracking device to Ripley seem like the most romantic gesture caught on film. Also, both Reese and Hicks admire Sarah and Ripley for their maternal drive. They don’t look at motherhood or being responsible for a young human life as a negative — it’s something truly noble.

So, basically, early James Cameron thinks that a truly masculine man is one who is responsible, heroic, and respectful of women and children. Also, Cameron thinks this guy is from the future and that this guy looked like 1980s Michael Biehn.

I’m not saying he has to have a second wind in his career. I’m just saying that we should remember Biehn as both Kyle Reese and as Hicks with the same level of recognition that we reserve for any other 1980s heartthrob. Sure, Biehn went on to star in Cameron’s The Abyss, and he appeared in films like Tombstone and The Seventh Sign, but he’ll always be inextricably linked to both Reese and Hicks. Those are his two most iconic roles, and they are kind of the same cool, hot, super progressive guy.

Where To Watch The Terminator and Aliens.

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[Photos: Everett Collection & 20th Century Fox]