That was originally the idea. In 1984, Cameron wanted the machine to be a low-profile infiltrator that would blend into a crowd. He wanted friend and fellow star Lance Henriksen to play the cyborg. Lance, being an actor who always eagerly dives into a role, began coming up with funny ideas like wrapping tin foil around his teeth, slowing his breathing to remain still, and practicing machine-like glares at people to the point that he was starting to genuinely freak people out. It’s my belief that Cameron loved his ideas and eagerness so much that he didn’t hesitate when it came to casting him as an android in his next film.
I’ve always thought that an obvious drawback to the 800 Series infiltrator was it’s huge endoskeleton frame … even in disguise, they were enormous and consequently stuck out in a crowd. Skynet designed all form of infiltrators over the varying timelines though, and certain models were smaller than the regular 800. I therefore don’t really think a huge actor is par for the course. The canon has expanded so much that a cyborg can come in any shape and size. Arnold was chosen was for screen presence and because the machine itself was a big, unrefined predecessor compared to successive designs.
All that being said, I think the best actor to play a Terminator is the one you’ve never heard of. It’s always been that way, and always should be. No offense, but all the A-list celebrity Terminator fanwanking is retarded to me; I’ve had similar thoughts in the past about celebs who’d make good Terminators, and I always arrive at the thought that watching some big name celeb try to act like a killer cyborg would be laughable. Such a performance comes with its own set of expectations for every viewer, and consequently far fewer people would find the role convincing than if the actor was lesser known. Cameron and his casting director always knew this; in addition to costing less on the budget, his insistence on unknowns was also because he wanted audiences to know as little as possible about the actors and the characters they were playing. When you don’t know anything about the actor playing the part and they’re doing a real good job playing it, you don’t know what to expect either from the actor’s performance or from the role itself, and are thus far more likely to be on the edge of your seat for the whole movie.
