Originally, star director James Cameron wanted the singer Sting in his sci-fi hit Terminator. But he declined.
As Michael Biehn, the actor of Kyle Reese in Terminator revealed in the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum on January 16, 2024, someone else was originally intended for his role.
Instead of him, James Cameron actually wanted the singer Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner aka Sting, the front man of the band The Police, for his sci-fi film.
Here you can see a trailer for Terminator:
Michael Biehn mentioned that the director probably wanted to see the singer because of his “otherworldly quality” in this role.
Furthermore, the actor playing Kyle Reese said that the director had personally met with the singer but received a rejection.
The reason for this was supposedly his previous film Piranha 2 – Flying Killers, a project that was such a major flop for James Cameron that he would like to erase it from his memory.
“I believe he met with Sting, and I think Sting basically said, ‘Yeah, I just saw Piranha 2. I think I’ll pass on this one.’ Something like that.”
More about Terminator can be found here with our colleagues from Filmstarts: “Don’t tell me how to write”: This is how James Cameron berated Arnold Schwarzenegger during the ‘Terminator’ shoot
The director was apparently already counting on the singer in advance and did not see anyone else in the role:
“I’m not sure how serious Jim [James Cameron] was about him. I have never heard another name associated with Kyle Reese.”
After James Cameron could not win the singer for his film project, the role went directly to Biehn, who ultimately became internationally known for his role in Terminator.
More about the well-known sci-fi film by James Cameron: Arnold Schwarzenegger actually didn’t want to say a famous line from Terminator
