O. J. Simpson was wanted as the Terminator
Los Angeles, Aug 26 (IANS) Filmmaker James Cameron has revealed that actor O.J. Simpson was almost cast as the Terminator in his cult classic science fiction film.
Cameron launched the franchise in 1984 with Arnold Schwarzenegger cast in the iconic role. But originally, Orion Pictures co-founder Mike Medavoy offered the part to Simpson, who infamously was found not guilty of the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and restaurant waiter Ron Goldman in 1995, reports theguardian.com.
However, Cameron didn’t want Simpson in the lead role.
“Mike Medavoy at Orion called me up one night and said, ‘I just went to this party and I got the movie cast!’ Now, of course, every filmmaker loves to hear that some douche executive has cast your movie for you. And he said, ‘OK, O.J. Simpson for the Terminator.’
“I was like, ‘Hey Mike, Bad idea! You’re going to have this black athlete chasing this white girl around Los Angeles with a fricking knife and a gun? We’re not doing that.’ Which was fortunate, but also unfortunate in that life ended up imitating art there.”