05-19-2009, 09:26 PM
I didnt know this. James Cameron said he was initially inspired by the image a metallic man walking out of a blazing fire, and worked backwards from there to come up with the story. He knew he'd be working on a low budget, which would prevent him from setting the movie in the future, so he brought in the element of time travel.In his original conception of the Terminator, Cameron pictured him being an average-sized guy who could blend into crowds. He wanted to cast Lance Hendrickson, who had been in his first film "Piranha II." Another possible choice was O.J. Simpson, but Cameron said in 1984, "people wouldn't have believed a nice guy like O. J. playing the part of a ruthless killer." Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who had appeared in a few movies but hadn't yet appeared in his breakout role "Conan the Barbarian" -- originally came in to audition for the part of the hero, Kyle Reese. The filmmakers realized Schwarzenegger was a better choice to play the unstoppable machine, plus he only had 58 words of dialogue in the whole movie.