One line in The Terminator helped to cement Arnold Schwarzenegger as a movie star, but it was a line the actor actually hated. The Terminator franchise kicked off with the classic 1984 sci-fi thriller from James Cameron, which launched Schwarzenegger as the next great action movie star in his lead role as the villainous cyborg hunting Sarah Connor. The success of the movie is surely a testament to Cameron’s skills as a filmmaker and storyteller, but it is hard to imagine The Terminator working without Schwarzenegger’s iconic performance.

Schwarzenegger was already in the process of transitioning out of the world of bodybuilding and into action, with his breakout performance in Conan the Barbarian. However, The Terminator made him a household name and the face of the franchise. While the other Terminator movies made him the hero, Schwarzenegger was excellent as the emotionless killing machine, and one particular line delivery has gone down as an iconic cinematic moment. That makes it all the more shocking that Schwarzenegger actually tried to change it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Hated “I’ll Be Back”

Schwarzenegger Felt The Line Was Awkward As Written

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous moment in movies comes when the Terminator arrives at a police station to ᴀssᴀssinate Sarah Connor. After being told by the desk sergeant that he’ll have to wait, the Terminator surveys the area and announces, “I’ll be back.” He then drives his car through the front of the station and commences a shootout with the entire police force. It became an instantly iconic moment and one that Schwarzenegger fought against.

In a recent episode of Actors on Actors with Variety, Schwarzenegger sat down with his real-life son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, to discuss his breakout role as part of the cast of The White Lotus season 3. During their discussion of their respective careers, the elder Schwarzenegger remembered a conversation with James Cameron on the set of The Terminator in which he asked to change the line, complaining:

I said, ‘It’s just weird for a German to say, “I’ll be back.” Why not just say, “I will be back”?’ “

Schwarzenegger claims that Cameron responded in his typically blunt fashion, saying:

He says ‘Oh, you’re trying to tell me how to be a better writer? Because I’m not telling you to be a better actor. Just say, ‘I’ll be back.’ If you want me to do 10 takes because you feel insecure about it, we can do that. But don’t change my writing.”

In a way, Schwarzenegger was right that the line is a little awkward, since the Terminator is a machine and seems more likely to speak in a formal way. However, Cameron was also right in sticking to how he had written the line. The phrase makes it seem as though the Terminator is trying slightly to fit in and sound normal, which makes it funnier given his emotionless delivery. Luckily, Cameron’s harsh retort got through to Schwarzenegger, convincing him to trust the script, and the rest is cinema history.

“I’ll Be Back” Is Just One of Arnold’s Many Iconic Hollywood Quotes

Schwarzenegger’s Legacy Is Cemented By His Famous Lines

It is possible that “I’ll be back” is the most famous line in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entire career, but that doesn’t mean the quote doesn’t have a lot of stiff compeтιтion. With his heavy and unmistakable accent mixed with his larger-than-life action hero persona, Schwarzenegger may have more iconic movie quotes to his credit than any other actor in Hollywood history. Just like “I’ll be back“, many of them have grown far beyond the movie itself and become part of pop culture.

The Terminator franchise offers another line that is nearly as famous from Terminator 2: Judgment Day as Schwarzenegger’s heroic Terminator delivers, “Hasta la vista, baby” before blowing away the villainous T-1000. Predator is also filled with some memorable lines, as “You’re one ugly motherf**ker” and “Get to the chopper” have become recurring lines in the rest of the Predator franchise.

Of course, as an action movie star, some of Schwarzenegger’s most famous lines come from the delightfully cheesy one-liners he uses when offing one of his enemies. In Total Recall, Schwarzenegger spears a man with a giant drill while screaming “Screw you“. That comes after he kills the villain who posed as his wife with the punchline, “Consider that a divorce.” The moment he kills a man in Commando by throwing a steaming pipe into his chest and saying, “Let off some steam,” is also fondly remembered.

These catchphrases and one-liners have only cemented Schwarzenegger’s legacy as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. However, it is interesting to consider how all of that might have changed had he succeeded in changing that famous line in The Terminator.