Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. Robert Patrick as the T-1000. Pretty iconic roles, right? But it was almost a robot from another android movie and a rock star as those unstoppable killing machines.

“They were thinking of Lance Henriksen for the Terminator, and they wanted Arnold for the Michael Biehn part of Kyle Reese,” revealed “Terminator” stunt coordinator Joel Kramer. “And Robert Patrick wasn’t James Cameron’s first pick – Billy Idol was.”

It’s more well known that Henricksen, who was the android Bishop in Cameron’s “Aliens” movies, was first choice for the Terminator – but Billy Idol? “That’s something most people don’t know,” said Kramer, who now works on the television spin-off, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” “I don’t think I even told them that here, to be honest with you.” Read more...