Richards was sometimes drafted in on dramatic roles as well as his stunt duties, notably in the fantasy adventure Red Sonja (1985), which was co-written by George MacDonald Fraser. The stunt coordinator on the film was, once again, Armstrong, who recalled: “Terry had a bit of stage fright and worried that his acting was not up to it. So I told him, 'Terry, I hired you, not an actor, just be Terry Richards’, which is what he did.” Armstrong noted that the film’s director, Richard Fleischer, “thought Terry was one of the best actors in the movie”. Arnold Schwarzenegger played the lead.