When it comes to The Terminator films, actress Rose McGowan is a self-described fan of the franchise. When Terminator 2: Judgment Day hit theaters back in 1991, she went to see it five times. Now, she’s part of the mythology thanks to the new Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment release, Terminator: Salvation.  McGowan plays Angie Salter, a “voice of reason” amongst the survivors who are battling the machines. The game takes place two years before the events seen in the film.

McGowan has had a devoted following of fans since she first broke out with The Doom Generation. From Charmed to Planet Terror, McGowan has chosen projects that have a loyal male gaming fan base. And now she’s delivering a performance catered specifically to them. Terminator: Salvation marks her second foray into interactive entertainment. She played Tala in Capcom’s western zombie game, Darkwatch. What’s especially interesting about Terminator is that she’s not in the Warner Bros. movie like fellow game actors Common and Moon Bloodgood.

McGowan, who will next be seen on the big screen in the re-make of Red Sonja, talks about her Terminator experience, her iPhone obsession, and her first work as a videogame action hero in this exclusive interview.

How did you get involved in the Terminator game?

They called me out of the blue and I said, “Heck Yeah!” It was funny the way it worked out. I had been shooting a whole week of nights being killed and dragged through the dirt and I went straight from there in the early morning to Nevada to campaign for Obama at about 10 gay clubs in a row and then I flew in to do this at 6 a.m. So it was basically many nights of no sleep — being killed, Obama and gays and then Terminator. One natural progression.

Were you a fan of the Terminator films before this videogame opportunity opened up?

Of course I loved the movies. I actually went with my little Radio Shack tape recorder to the Terminator 2 movie. I went five times trying to capture the sound when he would do his “chck-chck” and load up his sawed-off shotgun. Now I have an application on my iPhone that plays that and I use it all the time. I have like every iPhone application in the world.

What’s it like to be in a videogame as a fan of The Terminator?

Oh, that’s kind of insane. It never occurred to me to think about that. It’s funny, while doing it, I didn’t really know that people had a difference of acting styles in the movie versus the game. There’s a scene where my character is crying so I actually started crying and everyone ran in from the control room worried to see if I was okay or if I was really having a breakdown. I said I was crying because it said she cried and they all looked at me so shocked. That’s what I was supposed to do. So I heard some of the other people had to come in and re-record some of their stuff because mine sounded a bit more natural. That’s all I know.

How have you seen games infiltrate Hollywood?

I would say yes. I mostly go around as a dork in the corner of the party showing everyone all the things I have on my iPhone applications. “No, look, the bowling needs the load factor to be annoying.” That’s pretty much me. But when I get together with my family and my brothers and sisters I just give in and we all play videogames together.

Was there any game playing on set during down time?

I would say in general, you see almost everybody – not me, though, because I like to sleep – in trailers the guys always have some version of PlayStation or Xbox. But I always have my dog with me so I can’t afford to piss her off and have her piss on it and blow it up. She has a habit of pissing on any electronics I leave on the floor.

Speaking of the iPhone, what do you like to play on that device?

I have quite a collection of shooting games. I have this one game called Sally’s Salon which is quite absurd. It’s quite stressful because you have to take care of all of your clients while some are getting their hair done and others are getting blow dried. You can hire other employees to help you. I mostly like the game for the stupid hairdos you can create. I have one for Suzy Dressup, but I just give that to little kids running around because they like that and they leave me alone. I’m multi-faceted. I like the salon game as much as I like the shooting games.

The good thing for you is that Terminator: Salvation is now out for iPhone from Gameloft.

Really? Neato. I know, I’m totally obsessed with my phone.