Lance Henriksen playing The Terminator...

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Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I was at a fan expo, and Lance Henriksen was there. One of the questions that was asked to him in the Q & A, was to tell everyone about how he was considered for The Terminator.

He said that that that was all just a false rumor that got started though, and that he was never considered for The Terminator. He said he went to audition but was turned down and never considered.

However, I watched this youtube video on The Terminator, and at 13:40 into the video, it's mentioned how Henriksen was considered and there was even storyboard art of him done for the movie:



But now I don't know what to believe. If Henriksen was being honest, and that hew as never considered for the roll, why would they do storyboard artwork of him as the Terminator then? Does anyone know for sure?



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'd take that video with a pound of salt. There are no references first off. Second, anyone since could have created fan art to claim it was storyboard work. But to be clear he didn't claim storyboard or even concept. Instead he just used the generic term "artwork" which could be for anything, from anyone, from any time. I'd trust the actor who was there than a random YouTube character without sources.



https://www.notstarring.com/movies/terminator

pretty interesting

Terminator-

Turned it down
Mel Gibson
Tom Selleck
Chevy Chase

Not picked
OJ Simpson
Lance Hendrickson

Sarah Conner
Turned it down
Tatum Oneal
Debra Winger
Melanie Griffith

Passed over
Glen Close
Genna Davis
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jodie Foster

Kyle Reese
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Right now my mind is just swimming with the idea of Arnie and Jodie Foster running away from Chevy Chase



I'd take that video with a pound of salt. There are no references first off. Second, anyone since could have created fan art to claim it was storyboard work. But to be clear he didn't claim storyboard or even concept. Instead he just used the generic term "artwork" which could be for anything, from anyone, from any time. I'd trust the actor who was there than a random YouTube character without sources.

I believe the earlier idea was that the Terminator would be a "normal sized man with a slight strangeness to him" kind of role which you could argue is something they return to with Patrick as the T-1000.



I believe the earlier idea was that the Terminator would be a "normal sized man with a slight strangeness to him" kind of role which you could argue is something they return to with Patrick as the T-1000.

Yeah it seems like the original concept was Kyle Reese was this big hulking dude, Sarah Conner was basically a child and Terminator is this normal but somewhat creepy soldier.



Yeah it seems like the original concept was Kyle Reese was this big hulking dude, Sarah Conner was basically a child and Terminator is this normal but somewhat creepy soldier.
Which is pretty much what you get in T2 all around but honestly I think it was better left to the sequel. The Terminator as a big hulking muscle man in the original might be a bit clichéd but that doesn't mean its not effective, especially with the film as a whole playing into the kind of crime ridden social decline cinema we'd seen a lot in the years before.

Really though I suspect the biggest reason Arnie got it is that he's actually a very good physical actor who brings out the mechanical nature of the character in the way he moves well. It was the same with Patrick, there's a certain sinuousness to the way he moves that plays equally well with the T-1000.