10 Insane Reasons Actors Didn't Return For Movie Sequels

It's no exaggeration to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Terminator franchise, having starred in the original three movies and physically appeared in all others... except for the fourth entry, Terminator Salvation.

Schwarzenegger was notably absent from Salvation, with fans having to settle for his rather low-fi digital likeness being unconvincingly pasted over a body double for a brief sequence featuring a skinned T-800 later in the movie.

As for why Schwarzenegger couldn't take part? He had a pretty good excuse, given that he was busy serving as the Governor of California at the time that the sequel was shooting.

While Schwarzenegger's political career certainly isn't a secret, contextually it's still wild to think about - that the star of the Terminator franchise couldn't appear in the fourth film because he'd found himself in a position of major political power. If that ain't a success story, what is?

Yet Terminator Salvation undeniably suffered from Arnie's absence, and the attempt to awkwardly shoehorn him in with sub-par VFX trickery didn't make the situation any better.