10 Iconic Movie Roles Almost Played By Totally Different Actors
3. The Terminator - Lance Henriksen
Arnold Schwarzenegger's physical presence, accent and ability to seem wooden and robotic may have made James Cameron's T-800 Terminator - a cyborg assassin sent back in time from a post-apocalyptic future - nightmare-fuel for 1980s cinemagoers. But this wasn't how the director originally saw things playing out.
Cameron wanted something of an average Joe who could blend into his environment when penning the Terminator script, and had Lance Henriksen, whom he had worked with on Piranha II, in mind. Early concept art shows Henriksen in the part, presenting a much more gaunt and quietly sinister figure for the T-800. But producers stepped in and vetoed Cameron's choice, leaving him to turn to an eager Schwarzenegger, who had been put forward for the role of hero Kyle Reese, but really wanted to play the villain.
Henriksen didn't totally miss out though, as he wound up playing Detective Vukovich in the movie - one of the police officers who tracks down heroine Sarah Connor and interrogates Reese. Cameron also got his wish in the end, casting Henriksen as the android Bishop in Aliens, his horror-turned-action thriller sequel to Ridley Scott's original space nightmare.