Schwarzenegger Tried to Argue His Way Out of His Most Iconic Line of Dialogue

I'll be back. Unless you've been living under a rock or completely cut off from pop culture, the first thing that comes to mind is James Cameron 's Terminator.

It's safe to say that this particular line has become truly iconic, with many referencing it in their daily lives as well as in other media.

Little did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger was not a big fan of the line to begin with and put up quite a fight to get rid of it.

In his own words, it just sounded weird, so he suggested saying it in a way that felt more natural to him: I will be back. The first time this came up in a conversation with James Cameron, the director simply brushed it off.

The second time, however, was not so nice, as Cameron's patience with Schwarzenegger was running out. The actor remembers the following dialog in a much more tense manner:

"I said, 'But it's more machine-like if you say, 'I will be back'. He said, 'Look, I don't correct your acting, don't correct my writing, ok?' And that was it."

Fortunately, there was no real conflict over this line, as both the actor and the director handled their creative differences professionally and shot both versions to see which one was better.

As we all know, James Cameron was right all along: by saying the line exactly as the director wrote it, Arnold Schwarzenegger made it right into movie history.

Best of all, the actor managed to really make this iconic line his own, repeating it many times after the initial success of Terminator.

From Commando and Raw Deal to Twins and Kindergarten Cop, this line, whether in its original form or slightly tweaked, never fails to impress audiences. Now it is basically a running joke that never gets old.

If you want to revisit the Terminator franchise, you can do so by streaming all the movies on HBO Max or Hulu.