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After disappearing from the news that he was once a part of every day, O.J. Simpson’s name is back on everybody’s lips following the announcement that the NFL star, and accused murderer, passed away yesterday. A lot of the old stories about O.J. are finding their way back into social media, including the claim, which has been around for years, that O.J. Simpson was once going to be The Terminator instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, a producer of the original film is once again, debunking the claim.
It’s not uncommon to hear that other stars were considered before iconic roles were cast. Michael Biehn says James Cameron wanted Sting for his role at one point. We know Will Smith was offered The Matrix but passed. It wouldn’t be a shock if we learned that O.J. had been cast in a major movie role in the ’80s, but it seems it didn’t quite happen that way.
What The Terminator Producer Says About The O.J. Rumor
The story that O.J. Simpson was involved in James Cameron’s The Terminator, aka one of the best science fiction films ever, has been around almost as long as the movie itself. Depending on the story you hear, he was offered the role, or at least seriously considered for it. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself has said O.J. was cast as The Terminator before the studio changed its mind, but producer, and James Cameron’s ex-wife, Gale Anne Hurd, took to Twitter to debunk the resurgence of the rumor. She said O.J. was never considered for the role, posting:
I realize that Arnold claims that OJ Simpson was cast as The Terminator before we cast him. That is 100% NOT TRUE. And I should know. Jim and I never ever considered OJ. Not even for a nanosecond.
The O.J. story has been around for decades, likely due to the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been the one telling it, but it does appear that the big man has the facts wrong. Hurd’s comments here line up with what James Cameron himself has said. There was interest in O.J. as The Terminator, but it didn’t last long, and it never came from Cameron.
What Arnold Schwarzenegger Said About O.J. Simpson Being Cast As The Terminator
Schwarzenegger has said more than once that O.J. Simpson was originally cast in the role that made Arnold famous. Arnold has even gone so far as to claim that a piece of art, that is currently hanging in the Predator star’s home, that shows him as the Terminator, had originally been painted with O.J. in the role, and was then altered to turn it into Arnold. In 2019 he told The Independent…
It was actually OJ Simpson that was the first cast Terminator. Then somehow [James Cameron] felt that he was not as believable for a killing machine. So then they hired me. That’s really what happened.
Except, that’s apparently not really what happened. Gale Hurd says O.J., was never considered, and James Cameron backed up that claim years ago.
What James Cameron Says Actually Happened
Back in 2019, James Cameron was asked by the Los Angeles Times about the report that O.J. had been cast, and he said “Arnold is literally just wrong.” According to Cameron, it was an executive at Orion Pictures, who was co-financing The Terminator who pitched the idea of O.J. Simpson as the robotic killing machine. Cameron instantly rejected the idea. Cameron explained…
I got a call from Mike Medavoy who ran Orion, which was jointly financing with Hemdale, and Medavoy said, ‘Are you sitting down? I’ve got this movie cast: O.J. Simpson as The Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger as [Kyle] Reese. [Producer and co-screenwriter] Gale Hurd and I looked at each other like that was the stupidest thing we’d ever heard in our lives, and I told him on that phone call, ‘It’s not O.J. Simpson. We’re not doing that.’ And he said, ‘Well, will you meet with Arnold Schwarzenegger?’
So that’s the story. O.J. Simpson was never cast, never offered a role, and not even considered by the producers of the film. He was simply a name that got pitched by somebody who had an idea. O.J would have a career in Hollywood, most notably in the Naked Gun movies that are currently being rebooted, but he was never involved inThe Terminator.