Everyone has their heroes…some look up to fictional characters, some look up to fireman and police officers, I however, looked to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ever since I first laid eyes upon THE TERMINATOR (and wiped them at the heart wrenching conclusion of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY) at the strangely young age of seven, Schwarzenegger has been a hero that I have worshipped every day of my life through think and thin. The astounding accomplishments of the Austrian oak (Mr Universe, Hollywood actor, Governor of California) alone are enough to warrant respect and admiration from anyone. However to me, Schwarzenegger is the Hollywood superstar and the determination, discipline and talent that lead him to those amazing accomplishment’s, is why he is my hero.
In early March I had the fantastic, once in a lifetime opportunity, to attend a press conference in the beautiful Savoy Hotel, for Schwarzenegger’s new film SABOTAGE. After immense anticipation at the thought of sitting in the same room as my lifetime idol, I was (thankfully) not disappointed. Schwarzenegger is every bit the man he appears to be in his vast filmography of fantastic productions. The professional, intelligent and surprisingly funny star gave incredibly in-depth and insightful answers throughout the press conference, and strangely enough had a good back and fourth with surprise moderator Keith Lemon. Yes, Keith Lemon was in attendance at the event, and although the television comedian can be irritating at times, the slightly surreal image of him and Schwarzenegger laughing and joking was definitely amusing. For fans also looking forward to TERMINATOR: GENESIS, THE LEGEND OF CONAN and TRIPLETS, look out for exciting updates from the man himself amongst the various answers.
Check out the entire interview and photos below!
Keith Lemon: I am a fan, I am a fan and not just because of his films but we grew close together whilst we were doing this film…I got cut out of the film. I die right at the beginning.
[Arnold Schwarzenegger shares a laugh with the eccentric comedian]
Keith Lemon: He shot me!…but yeah we had fun. Not as much fun as when I was in JINGLE ALL THE WAY, I got cut out then…every film I do with Arnie I get cut out!
Arnold Schwarzenegger: You played the baby in JUNIOR [laughs].
[The audience gives the biggest laugh since the conference began]
Keith Lemon: Yeah I was the baby in JUNIOR.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: That was twenty years ago now so…[laughs].
Keith Lemon: Yeah I got a full grown moustache now and hair all over my back! But yeah quite fun times and hopefully we’ll be doing SABOTAGE 2 because…
[Arnold interrupts]
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Three.
Keith Lemon: Three?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Well you’ve done two already, this is the third one.
Keith Lemon: Well that one was such a blast that I can’t even remember. It was exhilarating like a water ride. It’s a lot like a log flume…
[Both Arnold and Keith burst into laughter]
Keith Lemon: I don’t know why I’m here!…Well I do [laughs].
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I hope so!
[The moderator interrupts a comedic embrace by the two actors]
Keith when did you first start the little affair?
Keith Lemon: We’re not having an affair!…oh you mean like family? Erm I suppose THE TERMINATOR, you know he’s a robotical time traveller…you come from the future to the past to tell that lass that ‘this is what’s gonna happen’ and then you get on a motorbike and it’s all exciting. Also PREDATOR when you fight that alien that’s got a mouth very much like a womans…looks like a woman’s part…but with teeth! I’ve been with some girls [making hand gestures resembling a Predator’s mouth] so that was fun.
I did a film myself and all the crew were just saying classic lines [putting on an impressive Arnie accent] ‘if it bleeds we can kill it’ and…yeah.
What did you think about the direction of this film?
Keith Lemon: Oh like you mean when I was actually talking serious? So we’re talking seriously about the film, I watched it on Saturday and it’s a bit of a change for Arnie. I think it’s quite gritty and dark compared to the Hollywood films where there was always an undertone of fun when you’re fighting aliens. But this was very gritty and quite gory as a film, a lot of twists and lots of murders. I enjoyed it but afterwards I was like…[pants exhaustedly] you have to breathe afterwards don’t you. It reminds me of a film called DOG SOLDIERS have you seen it? It’s a bit like that. It’s a werewolf film about army guys fighting werewolves, you’ve probably not seen it I’ll lend it to you. Are you gonna come back to my house after this?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I can’t wait.
Keith Lemon: And erm…it’s a dark film isn’t it? It’s very exciting.
Arnold what about David Ayer? how do you rate him as a director of action movies?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I think he is very talented. I think that he’s…I mean TRAINING DAY…he’s a fantastic writer and he’s directed END OF WATCH. You can see that he likes action, he likes realism and he brings as many real things to the screen as possible. I think it’s a different type of movie that I have done since Hollywood movies like you said [Keith]. I mean we fight the drug cartel as a DEA elite task force and it involves major killings and you know…payback time. You take something from the drug cartel and there will be payback and this is what the movie’s about, this battle between good and evil and in the end you see good, but also crossing the line.
[Keith Interrupts]
Keith Lemon: Revenge.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: And revenge.
Keith Lemon: That’s the undertone for me, this is about revenge.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: David [Ayer] did a great job and what I also liked was his insistence for us to train with the Los Angeles swat team, so that when we get to the set we really act out the characters really well. This way we also knew how to handle the weapons, not that I didn’t have a lot of weapons in my life in other movies, but you know the SWAT handles every weapon in different ways. The way they would breach doors, the way they would storm buildings, they way they would come through buildings and get the bad guys without killings the good guys. You have to study and learn them, it’s kind of like ballet the way they move and so that’s what had me really impressed, it was his [David’s] insistence for us to practice and train with them to get on set really prepared.
What’s it like to play a dark character?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I play a very good character. He deviates from his mission, his mission is to go and infiltrate the drug cartel but he’s looking for revenge because they have tortured and killed his family. So he be becomes kind of a flawed hero.
What’s it like playing a character like that and then going home and being normal after shooting people point blank?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: You mean as the character to go home? Or as Arnold?
As Arnold.
Well the character that I play does not go home and turn off, the character is 24 hours a day consumed by the fact that his family was killed by the drug cartel, and he only wants to have his revenge. He blames his fellow officers that were with him for that, he blames the cartel, he blames everyone for it and he just really wants his revenge. But as Arnold, when I go home I don’t think about the movie anymore I just go and have my work out every night, have dinner, and I rehearse for the next day. It’s all business during the time of shooting.
In recent years in films such as THE LAST STANDand SABOTAGE we’ve seen a very different side of you that’s more vulnerable and more aggressive. I’m curious if, on your return to acting, that is something you are actively seeking out and something you would like to add to your classic characters like Conan and The Terminator when you revisit them?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: No I didn’t have a master plan after I finished my governorship [of California] of ‘here’s what I want to do now I want to go and get more challenging roles’. I think it has something more to do with hitting a certain age. Especially after coming out of a government job you see the world a little more complex than it really is, or maybe as complex as it really is. Therefore you start getting attracted to characters that are a bit more complex and more multi-dimensional. So I’m attracted to those kinds of characters now but maybe twenty years ago I wouldn’t have been attracted to the same script. I think that the whole world twenty years ago, the drug war, was not so intense as today. As Governor I dealt with the drug issue in California, in real life, so that story was very appealing to me.
The next movie for instance, TERMINATOR [GENESIS] I did not plan either. It’s just that they bought the rights that were available and came to me. I felt very honoured because I did not want to be replaced in the movie, so I was honoured that they got me back in the movie. I love that character…playing a machine. At the same time Universal Studios are coming to me and saying ‘we want you to play CONAN’ so I thought ‘this is really great to go back to these old original characters that actually made my career’. But again it is not a plan. I did try to do more CONAN movies, but the people who owned the rights…I didn’t want to do the movies with. I didn’t want to do a CONAN movie that was like a half-assed movie. I wanted a CONAN movie with a great budget behind it and with a great director behind it, because then it can be a successful movie.
Then they’re also talking to me about TWINS…wanting to do TRIPLETS. Again this is something that I’ve chased for twenty years but there you have it right? At first they’re like ‘there’s no sequel, there’s no sequel, there’s no sequel’, then all of a sudden they call me and say ‘remember how you always talked about a sequel?…well I think it could be great!’. But it is a different studio now and a different executive. It is a new generation now and the old guard is gone. There are new people in there so this is the way it happens. I do one project at a time and I don’t really have a theme or a plan. Some ideas work, some don’t work, but I believe very strongly in the characters in those films.
There’s a great scene early on in the film of you in the gym working out: classic Arnold stuff. For people that see the film and see you doing those exercises, the lat pull down, the one arm dumbbell row, the pullover…Could you recommend some extra exercises that people could add to those in the film and build a workout out of it?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Well if you do pull down’s that’s a back exercise, if you do rowing it’s a back exercise…what else?
Pullover and one arm.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Yeah pullover, which is a chest exercise…the key thing is that you train the whole body. But that scene was not a documentary about my workout…you didn’t see me squat and then do the calf raises, the abdominal work, the sit ups, the leg raises, the shoulder exercises, the bicep exercises, the tricep exercises…they left all of this out! If you really want to train you should do the total body. You should go from one exercise to the next without stopping. That way you do the muscle training and the cardiovascular training together.
You are working with an amazing team in this movie with a lot of muscles. Who do you think is the most kick-ass of your co-stars?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: You know, it’s very hard to say because in their own ways they were all very tough guys. I mean, David Ayer wanted to know ahead of time if those guys were the real thing. So it’s not someone acting ballsy, or it’s not like a director having the luxury of saying ‘Okay we’re going to start shooting in a year. I like this actor here. He doesn’t yet look the part, but by the time I’m through with him and the personal trainer and the training with the SWAT team, he’s gonna look the part’. It was none of that. He picked really very, very tough guys and all of them, they all went through martial arts training; all put on the headgear, even the girls. They put on the headgear and were pounded away on, kicked, and everything like that because you don’t want them to come to the set and baby themselves. You want them to go all out and really be thrown around, and do as many of the different stunts as possible.
When anyone says they do all their own stunts that’s nonsense. Because the fact of the matter is no production will want an actor to even do high jumps…where they could twist an ankle or something, nothing major but it will take you out of the movie. It will shut down the movie so they don’t like it if you get injured. I get injured on every movie, but usually smaller things like banging my head on a camera or something like that, then you get stitched up quickly and come right back and continue shooting. You’re able to do that because the visual effects guys will wipe out the stitches. But if you have a broken leg, or a torn shoulder then you have to shut down. So on SABOTAGE we had really physically tough guys. For instance Joe Manganiello is a football player and he has been working out, he has been doing martial arts, he’s doing cross training and all those things. So he’s the real deal, he’s fantastic! He lifts a lot of heavy weights and he can take a lot of punishment…and he can give a lot of punishment! Sam Worthington worked like a mad man for this, you know how he gets into the character, he’s that kind of a guy. He’s terrific! He was willing to put the hours in at the gym, the hours into the martial arts and the weapons training, and all that. I had a great time working with those guys. It felt like I was thrown back to the PREDATOR days when I was with this ensemble cast of such talented, physically tough guys.
Keith Lemon: My uncle has a model of the Predator!
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I have the original in my office. I have all the Terminators, a Predator, the alligator from ERASER, the jet from TRUE LIES, all those…
How long did you train for?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: On CONAN I started a year before, especially with the horse training and sword training. It’s one of those things that if you do something casually every day, that by the time the film comes around it has become second nature. You don’t get a sore wrist from the sword anymore, because the swords are heavy, the fight scenes are relentless, and if you have a director like John Milius, he believes that you should be able to do all of the swords and tricks and stuff. I’d never done any sword work before. I come from a bodybuilding background, reps, reps, reps, it’s all about reps. To me the more often you practice, rehearse and use the weapons, the better you are going to be on screen.
Is that in your contract?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: No it wasn’t. Contracts are all bogus anyway. Who pays attention to a contract? If an actor is contracted to do forty days of work and then he walks off the set what are you gonna do? You can just cry. You can’t say ‘I’m going to punish you’…then they won’t perform for the next three days! He’s gonna be sick, right? Emotionally sick….Then the shrink comes to the set! Contracts are only for lawyers to have a good time and make their money and stuff. I don’t have it in a contract that I have to go down to New Orleans next week to practice, to rehearse and to do camera tests with all the wardrobe for TERMINATOR: GENESIS. There’s nothing in my contract for that but of course I want to go! You want to go. I want the director, Alan Taylor, who is a fantastic director, to have the ability to make the right choices. ‘What does this leather jacket look like? What do these combat boots look like? How does he look in this t-shirt? How does he look with this haircut?’ All of this…doing this with the director, working with the stunt coordinator. It’s not in your contract, but you do it because common sense tells you this is the right thing to do to make the movie successful.
I interviewed Liam Neeson recently and he claimed that you are fiercely jealous of his status as Hollywood’s Reigning Action Star. Is he talking absolute rubbish?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Oh that I’m jealous of him? No. I’m not jealous of anybody. I love being me. I do admire people. Liam Neeson is one of the people that I admire. As much as I admire Sam Worthington and Joe Manganiello, Or Jim Cameron, with his directing ability. I admire people, but I am jealous of nobody.
How is TRIPLETS coming along? How is Eddie Murphy fitting in there with Danny DeVito and yourself?
Arnold Schwarzenegger: We’ve not done any rehearsal, but I’ve met with him several times. He’s very, very funny and he is going to be perfect in TRIPLETS.
SABOTAGE is playing n UK theatres now!
