It’s one of the most iconic roles in film history, but Arnold Schwarzenegger was not initially interested in playing The Terminator. In a surprising twist of fate, the actor originally campaigned for a different role entirely, and it was only his own detailed understanding of the cyborg character that convinced director James Cameron he was the only choice.
The story behind the casting of the 1984 sci-fi classic reveals that Schwarzenegger was initially reluctant to take on the role that would define his career, preferring instead the human hero part of Kyle Reese. What changed everything was a fateful lunch conversation where Schwarzenegger outlined his vision for how the Terminator should move and behave—ideas that immediately convinced Cameron he had found his cyborg assassin.
The Original Casting Idea
Before Arnold Schwarzenegger became the Terminator, director James Cameron had someone else in mind for the role: O.J. Simpson. At the time, Simpson was a famous football player and actor, not yet infamous for the murders he would later be accused of. Cameron had cast Simpson as the cyborg, while envisioning Schwarzenegger as the human resistance fighter Kyle Reese.
Schwarzenegger confirmed this unusual casting history, revealing that Simpson was already set for the part, though no contract had been signed. The actor recalled his initial resistance to playing the mechanical villain, telling Cameron, “I want to play Reese.” The role of Kyle Reese would ultimately go to Michael Biehn, while Simpson’s involvement ended before production began.
The Fateful Lunch That Changed Everything
The turning point came during a lunch meeting between Schwarzenegger and James Cameron. While Schwarzenegger was still arguing to play Kyle Reese, he began sharing his detailed ideas about how an actor should portray the Terminator character. His unsolicited advice would ultimately change the director’s mind about who should play which role.
Schwarzenegger explained his vision for the character’s preparation: “I said remember it. It doesn’t matter. I know you guys have probably already hired O.J. Simpson. I said but whoever is playing it, I just want you to be clear. He has to train himself to take weapons apart and put weapons together, and to shoot and to load the weapons and all this while blindfolded.” He emphasized the mechanical nature of the movements: “Totally blindfolded because I am Terminator, I can never ever look down at his hand no matter what because he’s a machine. And when he walks, he has to have a certain walk. I mean, he scans and looks around, he has to have a certain scan. It has to be absolutely clear at all times that this is a machine with actually absolutely no human behaviour.”
This detailed character analysis impressed Cameron, who immediately saw that Schwarzenegger understood the Terminator better than anyone else. The director looked at Schwarzenegger and said, “So why don’t you play Terminator? I mean, you understand him so well, this character. This is exactly what we need.”
Schwarzenegger’s Initial Reluctance
Despite Cameron’s enthusiasm, Schwarzenegger remained hesitant about taking the role. His concerns were practical—he worried about having too few lines compared to his previous starring role in “Conan the Barbarian.”
“I said ‘No no, Jim, please please. I mean I counted the amount of lines this guy says. It’s 27 lines. In Conan I had 128 lines, so I’m not gonna go backwards. I said ‘You can give it to someone else, I said but I want to talk a lot, I want to perform, I want to be the leading man,’” Schwarzenegger recalled telling Cameron.
The actor was concerned about playing a mostly silent character after enjoying more dialogue-heavy roles. He initially saw the Terminator as a step backward in his career rather than the career-defining opportunity it would become.
How Cameron Convinced Him
James Cameron had to do some persuasive work to get Schwarzenegger on board with playing the Terminator. The director made several key promises about how he would shoot the character and position him within the story.
Cameron told Schwarzenegger, “I will make that guy a leading man. It’s called The Terminator. I will shoot it from below up, you will look heroic. And don’t worry about killing all these people because you’re a machine. No one is gonna blame Arnold.” He also assured him, “Trust me, I will shoot the character so that you’re not only the number one villain they’ve ever seen, but the number one hero.”
This approach addressed Schwarzenegger’s concerns about being perceived as merely a villain. After thinking about it for several days, Schwarzenegger had a realization that changed his mind. “Eventually one day I woke up and said to myself, you know, he’s right. It would be the most memorable character if it’s played right,” the actor recalled.
Not The First Time Schwarzenegger Disagreed With Cameron
This wasn’t the only time Schwarzenegger initially disagreed with James Cameron’s creative decisions for the Terminator character. When it came time for the 1991 sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” Schwarzenegger was again skeptical about Cameron’s plan to make the Terminator a hero rather than a villain.
Schwarzenegger recalled his reaction to the “Terminator 2” script: “I said ‘What do you mean a good Terminator?’ I was killing 68 people in the first one. In the second one I have to kill 150. We go up! Cut their throats and shoot them with a cannon and run them over with a car. I had to outdo Stallone. I said that my whole mission was being number one at killing amounts of people on screen.”
Cameron responded to this by saying, “Arnold, stop it. You’re a very sick guy. I am gonna make sure that in Terminator 2, you’re not gonna kill one single person.” Schwarzenegger thought this was “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” asking “How can this be Terminator 2 without me killing anyone?” Ultimately, Cameron’s vision prevailed, and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” became even more successful than the original.
The Career Impact
Schwarzenegger later acknowledged that taking the role of the Terminator completely changed his career trajectory. In a 1985 interview, he credited the part with opening up new possibilities for him as an actor.
“It has opened up a whole new thing for me, and of course the most important thing in acting is to be able to get roles in many different areas rather than just get typecast,” Schwarzenegger said.
The film’s success launched a massive franchise that includes several sequels, a television series, comic books, novels, and video games. The original 1984 film, made on a modest budget of $6.4 million, went on to earn $78.3 million at the box office and made Schwarzenegger a superstar. The Library of Congress selected “The Terminator” for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2008, recognizing its cultural and historical significance.
The collaboration between Schwarzenegger and Cameron continued beyond the Terminator franchise, with the two working together on the 1994 action comedy “True Lies,” which grossed $378 million worldwide. Their professional relationship has spanned decades, creating some of the most memorable films in action and science fiction history.
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