10 Actors Who Originally Turned Down Their Most Iconic Roles
9. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thought The T-800 Was A "Sh*t" Part - The Terminator
When the studio started thinking about who to cast in the lead role of the T-800, an emotionless robot murderer who will stop at nothing to kill a woman and her unborn child, they originally envisioned O.J. Simpson.
Rather chillingly, James Cameron later decided that O.J. was way too likeable and that nobody in their right mind would ever believe him as a killer (uh...). Then Arnold Schwarzenegger's name came up as a possible choice for the role of Kyle Reese, but Cameron deemed him ill-fit due to his size.
Still, Arnie ended up in a meeting with Cameron and - after explaining how he thought O.J. should play the role of the Terminator - Schwarzenegger became the director's top choice for the part of the T-800 instead.
Arnie refused, deeming the part to be "a step backwards." Despite Arnie's obvious acting limitations, he had still managed more interesting parts than "a robot" by 1984, after all - he'd been an barbarian and, heck, he'd played Hercules. He also wanted to focus on playing more heroic roles, and the very evil T-800 was absolutely not the way to do that.
Still, Cameron ultimately managed to convince the actor. Schwarzenegger didn't think much of the role even after signing on (he referred to it as "sh*t"), but - upon seeing the final film - was won over by its genius.