5 Roles In James Cameron Movies That Were Perfectly Cast (& Who Almost Played Them)
The most talked-about aspects of James Cameron’s filmmaking are his mega-scale action sequences and groundbreaking visual effects. But he’s also a masterful storyteller and he usually casts the perfect actor to play each role.
Now that they’ve become icons, it’s impossible to imagine anybody besides Kate Winslet playing Rose DeWitt in Titanic or anybody besides Linda Hamilton playing Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise (or anyone besides Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the Terminator itself, for that matter). But they weren’t the first choice for the part.
Rose DeWitt Bukater In Titanic
Kate Winslet was a relative unknown when she was cast to play Rose in Titanic. She only managed to land the part because it was turned down by all the A-listers it was offered to. But she ended up being the perfect choice.
Characteristically, Rose isn’t exactly an everywoman – she’s a wealthy socialite reluctantly marrying for money – so the relatability factor relied on Winslet’s nuanced performance.
According to WhatCulture, Cameron’s first choice for the role of Rose in Titanic was Drew Barrymore. She was one of the biggest stars of the ‘90s, thanks to romcoms like The Wedding Singer and Never Been Kissed.
However, Barrymore didn’t think she was right for the part and turned it down. Before the role was offered to Kate Winslet, both Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman turned it down.
The T-800 In The Terminator
It’s impossible to imagine the Terminator franchise being anywhere near as successful without the involvement of Arnold Schwarzenegger. First as a villain and later as an antihero, Schwarzenegger made an unforgettable cinematic icon out of the T-800.
It might sound like a cheap joke to say that Schwarzenegger gave his best performance as an emotionless killer cyborg, but it’s not easy to sell the coldness of a machine in such a genuinely unsettling way.
Almost Cast: Jürgen Prochnow
Before Cameron cast Schwarzenegger as the T-800, according to Empire, he considered German-American actor Jürgen Prochnow, best known for his roles in Wolfgang Petersen’s Das Boot and David Lynch’s Dune.
Ironically, Prochnow would go on to play Schwarzenegger himself in a movie called See Arnold Run about the actor’s political career in California. Roland Kickinger played the younger version of Schwarzenegger.
Jake Sully In Avatar
Although Cameron initially sought a major star to play the lead role of Jake Sully in Avatar, according to the L.A. Times, he instead cast Sam Worthington because the then-unknown actor would give Jake “a quality that is really real.”
Cameron added that Worthington “has that quality of being a guy you’d want to have a beer with, and he ultimately becomes a leader who transforms the world.”
Almost Cast: Matt Damon
Before Worthington was cast to star in Cameron’s sci-fi epic, the lead role in Avatar was offered to Good Will Hunting’s Matt Damon. According to Deadline, Damon turned it down due to his commitment to the Bourne franchise.
The Bourne movies have been hugely successful, but the Avatar offer that Damon turned down included a 10% stake in the film’s profits. Avatar famously became the highest-grossing movie of all time by a wide margin. Suffice to say, Damon’s hypothetical payday would’ve added up to a lot of money.
