Terminator's Villainous T-1000 Was Almost Played By A '80s Rock Icon

I'd argue that almost every cinephile who looks back on James Cameron's mind-blowing sequel, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" — which had one of the best movie twists of all time — can confidently say that Robert Patrick's casting as the villain, T-1000, standing opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator was simply perfect. He wasn't an obvious choice, and perhaps that's why it worked so spectacularly. However, he wasn't Cameron's first pick. Initially, the writer-director wanted Rockstar Billy Idol to play the vicious machine, and he even auditioned him, but there was an unfortunate circumstance that kept the then 30-year-old singer from portraying the cyborg.

On February 6, 1990, Idol suffered a pretty nasty accident while riding his Harley-Davidson — so severe that his doctors said he could've lost his leg — which left him with a limp, according to Louder Sound. As he recalled, "I'd had a really bad motorcycle accident. The trouble was, I had to be able to run. You know, there's one point where the T-1000 runs after the car, you know that whole bit. Well, I had to be able to run, and I had a terrible limp from the motorcycle accident, so I couldn't do the movie. It was such a drag."

In retrospect, Idol also admitted that he couldn't have done what Patrick did with the role and made it so iconic. "Stan Winston's special effects department, they had drawings of me as the T-1000. But in the end, Robert Patrick brought a cold veneer that I could never have brought to it. He brought a cold veneer that was really robotic. So the right man got the job!"

After six movies (with a seventh in the works by James Cameron himself), two television shows that include a thoughtful anime that debuted with a 100% critics' score, and two web series, the first sequel to the original "The Terminator" remains the peak of the franchise. Perhaps we didn't know it as clearly back then as we do now, but the "Avatar" filmmaker really had a magic touch when it came to sequels, and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was the final confirmation that sealed the deal. Epic, suspenseful, visionary, and unexpectedly affecting, the duo of Edward Furlong's young John Connor with Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 protector really cemented itself in the hearts of entire generations in the early '90s. Their fight against Skynet and its virtually indestructible T-1000 in the past was the kind of pivotal experience that could turn casual moviegoers into cinephiles.

If you were a kid growing up around then, you likely can't forget how the "Terminator" fever had taken over the zeitgeist like almost nothing else before it. It was a box office juggernaut, making over $517 million worldwide against its budget of $102 million (via Box Office Mojo). Critics, including the great Roger Ebert, couldn't stop praising the film for its innovative technical virtuosity as well as its mature and touching dramatic beats delivered by a terrific cast. It's more than likely that no new iteration in the franchise will ever be able to top "Terminator 2" in quality — except on modern physical media, where the movie is one of the worst 4K Blu-ray releases.

Billy Idol might've missed out on being a part of it, but his misfortune certainly was for the better for cinema history (and for us, viewers).