Arnold Schwarzenegger says OJ Simpson was early cast over him as The Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that movie producers originally had another celebrity in mind to play The Terminator – none other than OJ Simpson.

The former California governor discussed the casting decision that saw him become a 1970s movie star in a new Netflix docuseries about his life, revealing how producers originally thought he should play rebel fighter Kyle Reese and then-football star Simpson . the killer robot.

But as production progressed, Schwarzenegger said, “no one” at Orion Pictures — which distributed the blockbuster — thought Simpson would be believable as a “killing machine.”

James Cameron, the director, then urged him to take the part, but the now 75-year-old said he was reluctant to do so.

It’s just the latest reveal from the docuseries, chronicling Schwarzenegger’s life, acting career and transition into politics.

In the series, which premieres Wednesday, Schwarzenegger was joined by Cameron as the two reminisced about his rise to fame in the late 1970s.

During their conversation, Cameron talked about how Mike Medavoy, the co-founder of Orion Pictures, narrowed the cast down to Simpson as Terminator and Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese – who was later played by Michael Biehn.

“Mike Medavoy told me the movie was all cast,” Cameron said, recalling Medavoy telling him, “I worked all this out. PB Simpson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.’

“I said, ‘Well, what’s what?’ Those two names sounded so wrong to me.’

When Schwarzenegger showed up on set, Cameron said he was immediately struck by the bodybuilder’s appearance.

“I just sit there and watch him. It’s like the sound cuts out and I watch the lights kicking against the glass windows hit his face as the door opens. I mean, I think, “He’s got a great face,” said the famous director.

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger says in the documentary, “no one” at Orion Pictures was convinced that Simpson could kill a killer.

“During our conversation it became clear that no one was addicted to OJ Simpson playing Terminator because he couldn’t be sold as a killing machine,” the actor said.

But Simpson would later gain notoriety when he was implicated in the murder of his wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ronald Goldman just a decade after The Terminator was released.

Simpson was acquitted of the crime in 1995, but a civil suit against the once-beloved footballer found him liable for their deaths just two years later.

Schwarzenegger shared how he became the titular villain when he discussed the role with director James Cameron

The decision to cast Schwarzenegger in the titular role came later, when he approached Cameron about the role.

“I said, ‘Look, whoever it is, he’s got to go and be totally different from a human being. The way he gets on the bike, the way he runs, the way he gets up. Everything has to be just like a machine are.” .”

“He said, ‘Why don’t you play the Terminator? You totally understand that character. You’re the machine.'”

Initially, Schwarzenegger said he