Imagine if O.J. Simpson, not Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the cyborg in The Terminator! A twist of fate turned the NFL star into a “what if?” in Hollywood history. Let’s dive into the drama that led to Arnie’s rise as the definitive Terminator—and how a twist of fate turned a casting curveball into one of cinema’s most legendary roles.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: From Reese to the Terminator
Initially, Schwarzenegger wasn’t even eyeing the Terminator role; he was up for Kyle Reese, the human resistance fighter. “I wanted to play Reese,” Schwarzenegger said, recounting how he and Cameron butted heads over the casting. Meanwhile, O.J. Simpson was reportedly in talks to step into the Terminator’s leather boots, already cast by the studio (though no contract was signed).
Cameron had other ideas. During his discussions with Schwarzenegger, the director insisted that Arnold was perfect for the cyborg assassin. “You talk about how he has to walk and turn his head like a machine,” Cameron reportedly told Schwarzenegger. That’s exactly what he has to do.” With Cameron’s persistence, Arnie finally relented. But that meant bumping Simpson out of the way.
O.J. Simpson: A Role That Wasn’t Meant to Be
So, why did O.J. Simpson lose the part? Per Schwarzenegger, it all came down to “enthusiasm.” O.J. was just a little too eager to play the cold-blooded killer. In a twist of irony, Cameron didn’t think Simpson would be believable as a robotic assassin. Fast forward a few decades, and Camerdenies that O.J. was ever really in the mix.
In an interview with Chris Wallace on HBO Max, Cameron revealed that a studio exec had pitched Simpson for the role. “I think that’s a bad idea,” Cameron recalled saying, effectively sinking the casting suggestion. That executive, Mike Medavoy of Orion Pictures, was the one who initially floated the concept, but Cameron shut it down before it gained any traction.
Adding to the confusion, Schwarzenegger once claimed to have seen a concept sketch of the Terminator’s face… with Simpson’s likeness. Cameron, however, didn’t mince words when he said it was “flat-out wrong,” adding, “O.J. Simpson was never in the mix at all.”
The Movie That Changed Everything
The choice to go with Schwarzenegger over Simpson proved to be a blockbuster win. The Terminatrakedake in $78M, and Arnold’s portrayal became a legend. The role was a launching pad that turned Schwarzenegger from a bodybuilder with a thick Austrian accent into Hollywood’s most iconic action hero. The rest, as they say, is cinematic history—one filled with sequels, one-liners, and a now-immortal “I’ll be back.”
O.J., meanwhile, kept his focus on comedic roles like The Naked Gun trilogy, starring as the bumbling Detective Nordberg. And while Simpson’s acting ambitions were never fully realized—he once dreamed of snagging an Oscar or an Emmy for his work—his movie career took a backseat to the real-life drama that would define his public image.
For Schwarzenegger, the unexpected casting change was a stroke of fate that led to a Hollywood dynasty. For O.J., it was just another “what if?” in a life marked by both fame and infamy. Either way, the world got the Terminator it needed—a role tailor-made for an Austrian bodybuilder who refused to quit, like the cyborg he plauiUltimatelyend, sometimes the most iconic casting choices come from the most unexpected places—and Cameron’s gut feeling about O.JIt’s probably one of the best calls in movie history.
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