Patrick portrayed the character T1000 in the 1991 James Cameron blockbuster. Terminator 2 star Robert Patrick details replacing Billy Idol: ‘Oh my god’ Patrick portrayed the character T1000 in the 1991 James Cameron blockbuster. By Raechal Shewfelt :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RaechalShewfeltauthorphotoc49d3a3b6aa442f588f2bbc0de804e09.jpg) Raechal Shewfelt Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at . She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American Journalism Review and The Shreveport Times. EW's editorial guidelines August 28, 2026 4:29 p.m.

Patrick portrayed the character T-1000 in the 1991 James Cameron blockbuster.

*Terminator 2 *star Robert Patrick details replacing Billy Idol: ‘Oh my god’

Patrick portrayed the character T-1000 in the 1991 James Cameron blockbuster.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

EW's editorial guidelines

August 28, 2026 4:29 p.m. ET

‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ stars Robert Patrick as T-1000. Credit:

- Robert Patrick, who played T-1000 in *Terminator 2: Judgement Day*, recalled how he landed the role.

- The actor scored an audition after rocker Bill Idol couldn’t do the movie.

- Patrick said he knew right away the movie would be “spectacular.”

Robert Patrick still can’t get over having been cast in *Terminator 2: Judgment Day**.*

But the actor’s part in the 1991 James Cameron blockbuster, which also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Edward Furlong, did not come to him easily. His role as the shape-shifting villain, T-1000, had been meant for rocker Billy Idol, already known for hits including “Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” and “Dancing with Myself.”

Patrick recalled that Idol’s 1990 motorcycle accident had left him unable to run as required in the sequel to 1984’s *Terminator*.

“Once the Billy Idol thing wasn’t gonna work out, [Cameron] decided to look for an unknown,” Patrick told PEOPLE in a new interview. “And that would benefit the role and the actor playing the role, because no one had a preconceived notion of this unknown actor, so they would accept me as the T-1000.”

Billy Idol in 1991.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

has reached out to reps for Idol.

For Patrick, whose professional credits extended back just a few years, and included projects such as a 1989 episode of *The New Lassie* and another action sequel, 1990’s *Die Hard 2*, a Cameron movie was a big deal. That was before he’d even read the script.

“As soon as I got the audition for it,” he said, “I knew it was going to be something spectacular, something special.”

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He did what he could during the audition, but he didn’t even know what he was aiming for, since everything was under wraps.

“Finally, James Cameron let me read the script,” Patrick said, “and I went, ‘Oh my god, I’m the new Terminator.’”

Indeed. Patrick’s character had been sent to kill Furlong’s John Connor, the son of Hamilton’s Sarah Connor.

Edward Furlong has rare reunion with his ‘Terminator’ parents — and the T-1000

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Patrick, 67, still considers the part “a thrill of a lifetime. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it, to be honest with you, even though I did it. I don’t know how everything lined up.” He’s gone on to appear in shows such as *The X-Files*, *Scorpion*, and *Peacemaker*, as well as movies including *Flags of Our Fathers* and *Walk the Line*.

For his part, Idol recalled to Q Online in December 2023 that he had auditioned for the part.

“But I’d had a really bad motorcycle accident,” Idol said. “James Cameron always shoots the reading or the audition, whatever you want to call it. So they actually shot it, I’ve actually seen it, where at one point he says, ‘The T-1000 lives!’ I had the police helmet on and the shades.”

Idol confirmed that the running was the sticking point.

“The trouble was, I had to be able to run,” he said. “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. Stan Winston’s special effects department, they had drawings of me as the T-1000.”

Still, Idol approved of the actor who was cast.

“In the end, Robert Patrick brought a cold veneer that I could never have brought to it,” Idol said. “He brought a cold veneer that was really robotic. So the right man got the job!”

*Terminator 2: Judgment Day* is returning to U.S. theaters Aug. 28 through Sept. 2 for its 35th anniversary. Tickets are available now.

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Published: August 31, 2026 at 05:38AM on Source: RED MAG

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