This archive report was first published on 10 September 2019.
On the set of Terminator, Getty Images
Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic role as the Terminator almost didn't happen. In a new interview with Men's Health, Schwarzenegger revealed that he wasn't initially interested in playing the character, but his meeting with director James Cameron changed his mind.
According to Schwarzenegger's 2013 memoir, Total Recall, he went into the meeting with Cameron dead set against playing the killer robot. However, he kept telling Cameron his thoughts on how the Terminator should be played, and Cameron was convinced by his analysis.
Originally, Schwarzenegger had his eye on playing the human resistance fighter Kyle Reese, but when he read the script for the movie, he became fixated on the Terminator. He told Cameron that the character should be played with no joy, no gratification, and no victory lap, just the mission, complete.
Cameron was impressed by Schwarzenegger's analysis and offered him the role. Schwarzenegger wasn't into it at first, citing the limited number of lines the character had, but eventually, he was persuaded to take the part.
As Schwarzenegger explained to Men's Health, audiences were strangely drawn to his character's absence of all feeling: 'People really admired the character, because he was able to do things they all wanted to do,' he said. 'Everyone wants to wipe out a police station when they get mad at the police.'
Because age is nothing but a number for 72-year-old Arnie, he'll be back for Terminator: Dark Fate, which hits theaters on November 1.
