<Li> Rick Rossovich as Matt Buchanan, Ginger's boyfriend . </Li> <P> Additional actors included Shawn Schepps as Nancy, Sarah's co-worker at the diner; Dick Miller as the gun shop clerk; professional bodybuilder Franco Columbu (Schwarzenegger's friend and workout partner) as a Terminator in 2029; Bill Paxton and Brian Thompson as punks who are confronted by the Terminator; and Marianne Muellerleile as one of the other women with the name "Sarah Connor" who was shot by the Terminator . </P> <P> In Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning, director Cameron fell ill and had a dream about a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion . Inspired by director John Carpenter, who had made the slasher film Halloween (1978) on a low budget, Cameron used the dream as a "launching pad" to write a slasher - style film . Cameron's agent disliked the Terminator concept and requested that he work on something else . After this, Cameron dismissed his agent . </P> <P> Cameron returned to Pomona, California and stayed at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes, where he wrote the draft for The Terminator . Cameron's influences included 1950s science fiction films, the 1960s fantasy television series The Outer Limits, and contemporary films such as The Driver (1978) and Mad Max 2 (1981). To translate the draft into a script, Cameron enlisted his friend Bill Wisher, who had a similar approach to storytelling . Cameron gave Wisher scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department to write . As Wisher lived far from Cameron, the two communicated ideas by recording tapes of what they wrote by telephone . Frakes and Wisher would later write the US - released novelization of the movie . </P>

Where did the idea for terminator come from
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