A film project born from a dream. Director James Cameron, one of Hollywood’s most popular and important directors, had the idea for The Terminator (1984) during a dream, more like a nightmare, in which a terrifying-looking robot appeared to follow him. Well, this image became the basis for the character of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here is what IMDb writes more precisely about the dream episode that has already become a classic film.
James Cameron had the idea for the film during post-production on his previous film, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1982), when he was in Rome. He had been kicked out of the production team and had spent the last of his money on a plane ticket to Rome, hoping to at least be involved in the editing process. Without enough money for proper food, one night Cameron, feeling very sick, went to bed, in his sleep he also developed a fever and, probably due to stress and illness, had a nightmare. He dreamed of a metallic endoskeleton emerging from flames and crawling across the floor holding kitchen knives. When he woke up, the first thing he did was to draw the dream image as quickly as possible.
The Terminator was the film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star, although it was not the first film in which the actor had appeared. But there were a few challenges to casting him in the lead role, including initially being cast as Kyle Reese rather than the Terminator, and being urged by his manager to refuse to play the villain.
Schwarzenegger was cast primarily for his imposing looks and Austrian accent, which added an air of mystery and toughness to the character, and to pull off the role brilliantly, he trained and rehearsed nonsensically, spending hours blindfolded in every day, practicing how to take apart and reassemble futuristic weapons, “to really prove that I’m an expert coming from the year 2028 to the present in Los Angeles.”
Besides, his previous films were also possible thanks to his impeccable physique. He was just a professional bodybuilder. With sports ambitions and iron determination since he was a teenager. And for everything he got, he worked hard. And seriously. He didn’t like half measures. By the time he appeared in his first film, Hercules in New York, in 1970, Schwarzenegger was the title holder of Mr Universe, and with the films Conan the Barbarian in 1982 and Conan the Destroyer in 1984, his long and complicated surname, has become a trusted brand for action movie fans. But the offer to star in The Terminator was something else, and Schwarzenegger knew it.
“Initially, I was offered the role of a good boy, a hero, but after reading the script, I was more fascinated by the Terminator character. It was much more interesting to play a robot.” So, in a way, it was Arnold who pitched the idea to the director to “do” the villain.
“I thought it was a big step forward for my career. Before, I had always played the role of the hero. Plus, it was a good role for me because it was the first time I was in a movie where I didn’t have to rely on physical development like in the Conan movies.”
The Terminator was a box-office success in the US, and Schwarzenegger was already on another level. His career had new and much higher horizons, and his popularity had simply exploded.
And for all of this, plus what was to come, Arnold Schwarzenegger worked hard, in an organized way, had a goal and was constantly focused on his goal. He knew what he had to do when he decided to be a professional athlete, and he knew what he had to do when he decided to be an actor. “I put myself on a strict schedule, went to a lot of acting classes, voice classes, accent removal and so on and made a plan to promote myself – but after all that, I had the most unexpected resistance you can imagine. Everyone basically told me that I had very little chance in this profession, simply because they didn’t know anyone who had come from Europe and who had really made it, who had been hugely successful in this business.”
The Terminator became a cultural phenomenon, and Arnold, an actor who influenced numerous productions and video games, who starred in more than 40 films, had better or worse roles, but regardless of the popularity of the film in which he was cast , his name remained synonymous with success.
Mel Gibson, who was first offered the role of the Terminator but turned it down without much thought, simply believing that he was not suited for such a role, after seeing the film praised the choice of Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeing him as the only perfect one for such a character.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
