Today I Learned: OJ Simpson Was Cast As The Original Terminator, But Was Replaced Since No One Would Believe He Was A Remorseless Killer.

in #til9 years ago (edited)

Once upon a time in Hollywood, O.J. Simpson was cast to play the iconic role of the Terminator and Arnold was cast to play the supporting role of Kyle Reese in the film. While recasting major Hollywood films is nothing new. The reasons why O.J. ended up not getting the part was creepy and foreboding in hindsight. If you can remember a time before the 1990's you probably remember O.J. Simpson in his prime. He was on top of the world and breaking down racial barriers as the spokesperson for Hertz rental cars.

O.J. ended up not getting the part because at the time no-one could envision him as a ruthless killer. He was just too likable a guy.

Here is a quote from Terminator director James Cameron discussing OJ on The Terminator Special Edition DVD:

Gale and I just looked at each other and thought, "You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!" Mind you, this was before OJ was actually a killer. We might have reconsidered after he had killed his wife. (Laughs) This was when everybody loved him, and ironically that was part of the problem. He was this likable, goofy, kind of innocent guy. (Laughs) Plus, frankly I wasn’t interested in an African-American man chasing around a white girl with a knife. It just felt wrong.

Wow, it's funny how things change.

Image source: Pintrest.


Make sure to follow this profile @contentjunkie to stay up to date on more great posts like this one.

Sort:  

That is amazing. I did not want to but... I loved the tv show "The people vs OJ Simpson". I realize some of it was fictionalized... but some of the errors made by the state simply could not be made up.

The irony in this post lol. something I learned today :)

That's Irony on steroids.

WOW!

Who would have known?

Not I!

If OJ was used in the movie would Arnold Schwarzenegger have been framed for the 1994 murders?

This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the first half of Nov 22. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $4.70 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.

See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Nov 22 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.

If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.