It's hard to mention Arnold Schwarzenegger or Linda Hamilton and not think of their star-making turns in The Terminator. The James Cameron hit was a definitive movie of the '80s and was part of the decade's growing trend of violent action movies. But what if The Terminator was filmed in the New Hollywood era rather than in the age of excess?
Despite the flashy decade it was released in, The Terminator features some deep and grounded performances from its cast, which would lone itself to the gritty acting styles of the '70s. But who would play the Terminator, Saran Connor, and co.?
Jon Voight As The Terminator
Jon Voight proved he was a leading man of substance with 1969's Midnight Cowboy, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He could bring real gravitas to the role of a cyborg programmed to assassinate the mother of the future human resistance leader to ensure global domination for artificial intelligence.
Voight can also play the ruthless villain, as seen in his performance in Runaway Train, which would come in handy when playing a cyborg who feels no pain or remorse for his mission. The Terminator made Schwarzenegger a huge action star. Could it have done the same for Voight?
Ellen Burstyn As Sarah Connor
Ellen Burstyn had already played a mother desperate to save her child in The Exorcist and can bring that same pathos to her role as a mother charged with the responsibility to protect the fate of a child who has yet to be born.
Burstyn is one of the finest actors of her generation and helped elevate the original Excorcist into becoming an icon of the horror genre. Her performances prove she has the depth to bring Sarah Connor's conflict of self-preservation and altruistic mission to life.
Duane Jones As Kyle Reese
Duane Jones never got to play the lead actor in a mainstream movie after the success of Night of the Living Dead. However, he was excellent in Ganja & Hess as an immortal vampire and could translate the role of a man out of his time to that of Kyle Reese, who is sent from the future to save Sarah Connor. Jones and Ganja & Hess co-star Marlene Clark developed great chemistry while dealing with existential choices around love and death, two themes paramount to capturing Reese and Connor's love affair.
Playing Reese would give Jones the leading man role he deserved, playing another hero facing impossible odds but with a moral compass to guide him. His performance would increase the time travel stakes of The Terminator.
Kathy Bates As Dr. Silberman
The role of Dr. Silberman requires an actor who can play sinister and slimy; someone who can cast off the protagonist's fears as unfounded worries, all the while manipulating them to their will. Kathy Bates achieved a career performance playing just that in Misery and would be a great character actor to fill the shoes of Dr. Silberman, who almost single-handily hands over Connor to the Terminator.
Bates is convincing in a role of authority, pretending to play a care keeper with a hidden agenda.
Anthony Perkins As Detective Hal Vukovich
It's unclear in the film early on if Detective Hal Vukovich believes Connor or not, which calls for an actor who knows how to play unpredictability. Enter Anthony Perkins, who built a career doing just that, beginning with his scene-stealing turn in Psycho. Perkins would be a great casting because once the audience realizes Vukovich is on Connor's side, it's too late, and he has met his end.
Perkins would bring a spooky gravitas to the role, playing against type as an incorruptible cop looking to help.
James Baldwin As Lieutenant Ed Traxler
Paul Winfield was one of the best casting choices in the original. Why not up the ante by experimenting with the role of Lieutenant Ed Traxler, a grizzled cop who is over it all, by casting literary phenom James Baldwin? Traxler is a veteran of the police force and sees through the chaos as one of Connor and Reese's few allies. Baldwin would be able to bring a level of wit and charm to the role of the detective who finds his moment of heroism.
Who wouldn't want to see Baldwin pontificate on conspiracy theories and the eventual destruction of America from its own Frankenstein creation?
Freddie Mercury As Punk Leader
Many entertainers in the '70s broke into cinema with roles that played upon their entertainment value and abilities. So why not Freddie Mercury? To see Mercury dress up as that decade's version of punk would be classic. And it would be an unironic nod to the audience for one of the world's foremost entertainers to be playing what is essentially a cameo.
Mercury had the perfect amount of charm and presence to make himself memorable in any role, big or small.
Grace Jones As Punk
Why not continue the trend of casting musicians in memorable parts and place Grace Jones opposite alongside Mercury for a battle of sarcasm and cool when they encounter the Terminator. Both Jones and Mercury are fashion icons, and their costumes as these Terminator characters could definitely reflect that.
Jones was no stranger to film, as she starred in supporting roles in Conan the Destroyer, A View to Kill, and Boomerang.
Suzanne Somers As Ginger
Who wouldn't want to see one of the '70s most iconic actors portray Ginger, Connor's fun-loving and bubbly best friend? Suzanne Somers was the "it" girl of the '70s after a starring turn in the progressive Three's Company.
She brings effortless charm to anything she stars in and would be a fan favorite if added to this cast. Audiences' hearts would definitely break when the Terminator takes Ginger out.
John Ritter As Matt
If Somers is going to be cast, might as well go all the way and add her Three's Company co-star John Ritter to the group. The duo already had tangible chemistry as flirty roommates on the sitcom and could extend that to the goofy yet ill-fated couple they would portray in the film.
Ritter was one of the best physical performers of his generation, so the scene where he's terminated would be an opportunity for him to go out in comedic style.