Terminator 2: Judgement Day may be regarded as one of the best movies of all time, but Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t a fan of the plan for the action movie at first. The Austrian actor apparently had a big problem with the epic ‘90s movie in fact, and it all came down to how many people his character got to kill.
In the first Terminator film, Arnie plays the titular robot of doom, coming from the future to unleash chaos on our world. He sure racks up a decent kill count in the original ‘80s movie, but in the sequel, the Terminator becomes more of a protector for the likes of John and Sarah Connor. Instead, it is the new and improved T-1000 who gets to have all the fun of killing off side characters.
In an interview with The Ringer from 2021, James Cameron, the director of the thriller movie, revealed that his star actor was unhappy with the fact that he was no longer allowed to kill people after his character’s change of heart.
“[Arnold] and I had a breakfast meeting. I could tell there was something bugging him,” Cameron recalled. “He said, ‘Jim, I have a big problem with the script.’ I said, ‘Well, what is it?’ And he said, ‘I don’t kill anybody.”
“I said, ‘I know, right? They’ll never see that coming. Nobody will guess it,'” Cameron continued. Arnie wasn’t sold on the idea though: “I know, but one thing is surprise. Another thing is I don’t kill anybody and I’m the terminator,” Schwarzenegger replied.
“He said, ‘Everybody knows I kick in the door and shoot everybody. That’s what I do,'” Cameron added. To be fair, Arnie does have a point – he is renowned for kicking ass, and with a name like the Terminator, you’d expect death to follow him everywhere he goes.
But, Cameron knew what he was doing, clearly, and it all worked out for the best. Terminator 2 is probably the best Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, and the plot twist of his character becoming the hero was perfect.
If you want to get to grips with the Terminator timeline, here’s how to watch the Terminator movies in order.