Linda Hamilton gives arguably her best performance as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but filming a particular scene injured her for real. As much as many people make fun of acting for not being a "real job," it can still at times be quite dangerous. Things can and do go wrong on set, for a variety of reasons, leading to injuries to the cast, crew, or both. This is especially true in situations where actors do their own stunts, even small ones.
Of course, the trade-off for taking those risks is often worldwide fame and becoming a millionaire, so it's safe to say many would gladly volunteer for the job, regardless of the danger. As an actress, Hamilton certainly acquired lots of both fame and money, with the Terminator movies making her a star, and going on to have a pretty active career since, despite some struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. She finally returned to the Terminator franchise for 2019's Dark Fate, after a nearly 30-year absence from the Sarah Connor role.
Terminator 2 is one of the greatest sequels ever made, and is full of action scenes that are sure to thrill audiences in any decade. Filming one such sequence though, left Hamilton with a permanent injury that she still suffers from to this day.
The Terminator 2 Scene That Permanently Injured Linda Hamilton
The Terminator 2 action scene in question occurs when John and the T-800 have arrived at Pescadero Hospital to free Sarah Connor from confinement. The T-1000 is hot on their heels, and when the three heroes attempt to escape in an elevator, the T-1000 uses its liquid metal weapons to attack them inside. Sarah and the T-800 respond by firing off guns at the evil cyborg. The scene is usually referred to as the elevator shootout. Unfortunately for Linda Hamilton, she forgot to put her earplugs back in between takes, and her ears ended up taking the full brunt of multiple shotgun and handgun blasts. Not real bullets of course, but still extremely loud.
According to Hamilton, she still suffers from permanent hearing loss in one of her ears, although at least it's not both of them. To her credit, once she realized the other actors and crew weren't realizing her visible pain wasn't part of her performance, Hamilton got back up and started shooting, continuing the scene as scripted. That's kind of insane, and probably not medically advisable, but it speaks to how professional and dedicated Hamilton is on set, and to her greatest character.