Arnold Schwarzenegger told who they originally wanted to take on the role of the Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger said that initially the Terminator was supposed to be played by actor and former NFL player O. Jay Simpson, known for The Naked Gun movie series. However, the producers were not sure that moviegoers would be able to see it as a "killing machine".

Schwarzenegger revealed this candidacy in the Netflix documentary mini-series "Arnold", writes Business Insider.

The Terminator director James Cameron also took part in this series, who recalled that only Mike Medavoy, the co-founder of Orion Pictures, which distributed the film, saw Simpson in the role of the Terminator. While he considered Schwarzenegger for the role of Kyle Reese, a resistance fighter and father of John Connor.

Cameron recalls: "Mike Medavoy told me that the film was already fully completed, and he thought it all out: O.J. Simpson and Arnold Schwarzenegger." But the director was surprised at how Mike distributed the roles.

When Cameron saw Schwarzenegger live, he was immediately struck by his appearance.

Schwarzenegger noted that no one at Orion Pictures was sure about Simpson's candidacy — only Mike Medavoy saw him as a killer robot. Therefore, in the end, the role went to the one who was more suitable.

Schwarzenegger also recalled how he replied to Cameron: "No, no, no, I don't want to play villains. The character has only 26 lines of text." But in the end, the director still convinced Arnold that this role was created for him.

Just ten years after the release of Terminator, in 1994, Simpson found himself in the center of a scandal. He was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her lover Ronald Goldman. In 1995, he was acquitted and escaped the death penalty.

Recall that not so long ago James Cameron confirmed work on the script of the new "Terminator", but already without Schwarzenegger .