In an interview with The Independent, former bodybuilder, California Governor and film superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger said that OJ Simpson was originally cast as The Terminator, but director James Cameron thought that he wasn’t believable as "a killing machine”.
“It was actually OJ Simpson that was the first cast Terminator”, he said. “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”.
According to Schwarzenegger, OJ Simpson was so involved in the first part of the franchise that Cameron even drew a poster concept with Simpson on it. The film superstar said that the poster is now hanging in his office at home.
“On the painting that I have at home – it was painted by Jim Cameron. Underneath my face is actually OJ Simpson’s face. It was already painted on it, with the leather jacket and the gun in the hand”, Schwarzenegger said.
In 1994, OJ Simpson, a former American football star and actor, was charged with the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, but was later acquitted.