The world changed when James Cameron released his 1984 film, The Terminator. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role, the film was hailed as one of the greatest and spawned a franchise with multiple movies to its name.
Although Arnold Schwarzenegger was the right choice, there was a time when studios were considering casting someone else. According to director James Cameron, there were talks that O.J. Simpson, the infamous actor was to be cast in the film. Cameron bluntly denied the idea and stated that it won’t be the right choice to make.
James Cameron Threatened To Leave If O.J. Simpson Was Cast!
O.J. Simpson is known for being a controversial personality, who was a famous American former football player. Alongside his involvement in sports, Simpson was also an actor who later faced a murder trial for the alleged murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Although The Terminator came out way before the actors’ murder trial, James Cameron may have had a bad feeling working with the actor. In an interview, the director clarified that there were several studio executives who wanted to cast O.J. Simpson in the lead role. As per Cameron, it seemed like a bad idea to him, and hence, the actor was never considered seriously for the role.
In an interview that may sound controversial, Cameron stated that he threatened to walk out of the film if Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t cast in the lead role. As per the director’s talks, the Predator actor was the perfect choice but alongside being the perfect actor, he was also a dear friend to James Cameron.
“I think the problem, and I’m going to wear this one, is that I refused to do it without Arnold. Tim didn’t want Arnold, but I said, ‘Look, I don’t want that. Arnold and I have been friends for 40 years, and I could hear it, and it would go like this: ‘Jim, I can’t believe you’re making a ‘Terminator’ movie without me.”
The director concluded,
“It just didn’t mean that much to me to do it, but I said, ‘If you guys could see your way clear to bringing Arnold back and then, you know, I’d be happy to be involved.’”
Although Arnold Schwarzenegger was a dear friend to James Cameron, the Titanic director revealed that he rejected O.J. Simpson for a different reason. A reason that would seem ironical as the actor later went on to a murder trial but Cameron believed that he did not look like “a killing machine”.
James Cameron Did Not Believe O.J. Simpson To Be A “Killing Machine”
It was Arnold Schwarzenegger who originally talked about the potential casting of O.J. Simpson in The Terminator. In an interview, the actor talked that the reason James Cameron denied O.J. Simpson the chance was because he felt that the actor did not look believable as a killing machine.
“Somehow [James Cameron] felt that he was not as believable for a killing machine. So then they hired me. That’s really what happened.”
The Terminator was released in 1984 while O.J. Simpson went on to a murder trial from 1994 to 1995. Whatever James Cameron’s reason may be, the people were very happy with the director’s choice to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role. The Terminator is available to stream on Max.
Source: Variety
