After giving a great Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned this week for a second round of questions. This one also did not disappoint.
There’s plenty of highlights to go around, but one of the more interesting tidbits of info comes when Arnold was asked about director James Cameron choosing him for the lead role in Terminator:
busterhead: I remember hearing that James Cameron did not originally want you for the role of the terminator. But then you guys went for lunch and he changed his mind. If this is true what did you say or do to convince him you were right for the role?
“Actually, the story is a little different. I wanted the role of Kyle Reese when we went to lunch. I did not want to be the Terminator. I didn’t think I had established myself yet enough as a hero to be a villain. When I started in Hollywood, all they offered was villains. So I wanted to really establish myself first. But I told Jim some of my ideas about how the Terminator should train (not looking while loading weapons, not blinking, no emotions. I said the guy had to train blindfolded.) The Terminator, by the way, at that time, was O.J. Simpson. Jim told me I had to do it. He was right.”
So, O.J. Simpson was almost the Terminator, you say? Well, that certainly would have been…interesting. I think we can all be glad that the iconic role ultimate ended up in Ahnold’s hands, though.
