Well, geez, talk about being too big for your britches. Apparently, when director McG (a.k.a. Joseph McGinty Nichol) went to England to convince Christian Bale to play Marcus Wright in “Terminator Salvation,” the actor said he wanted to play John Connor instead.

While Connor was the main character in the first three “Terminator” movies, he was only supposed to have a small part in the fourth “Terminator” film, due in theaters May 21, 2009 (watch the trailer here). Instead, Connor became a central character. McG says the script became a “moving target,” and he worked extensively with Bale to work the character into the movie.

“A lot of the work was integrating (Connor) into scenes … and having that feel integral and sensible, as opposed to grafted on just because there was a star in the part,” says screenwriter John Brancato.

Originally, the main character was going to be Marcus Wright (played by Aussie actor Sam Worthington), an executed death row inmate who donates his body to science and is resurrected after machines take over the world by unleashing a nuclear holocaust on mankind. Now both Connor and Wright are equally important in the movie.

Bale had input in the casting of Worthington, as well. “There’s a benefit of currently a lot of people in the States not being familiar with him, and so you can really enjoy that performance that much more,” notes Bale. “He’s got so many movies that are going to be coming out, because many other people have realized that he’s bloody good.”

Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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