"Wiping out evil and all the bad people"- Arnold Schwarzenegger on being seen as an 'action hero'
Arnold Schwarzenegger is the epitome of success when it comes to bodybuilding. The former California governor has won several titles across his bodybuilding career. He has also acted in several movies as well and also made a mark in politics by serving as the governor of California. Arnold has acted in movies such as the Terminator, Total Recall, Conan, and The Expandables.
Most people consider Arnold Schwarzenegger to be an action film star because of his movies. In 2016, Graham Bensinger interviewed Arnold and they discussed Arnold being cast as an action hero in several movies and how he took risks and starred in the movie "Twins".
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Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about being portrayed as an action hero
Graham said that Arnold's decision to act in the movie "Twins" became a wonderful decision, but he asked Arnold what led him to decide not to take a salary for the movie.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he was so convinced that he would perform exceptionally well in a comedy, but he also understood the dilemma of the studios.
Arnold stated that every time he acted in a movie, the movies made enormous money, so the studios wanted to offer him another action movie so that they wouldn't suffer any losses.
He said the studios felt his last movie was great now, this time let's take Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Jungle and wherever but it should be an action movie and Arnold would perform well in it.
Graham questioned Arnold on whether he was hypersensitive about being typecast. The Conan star replied that he wasn't hypersensitive and continued:
"I said to myself, I understand that this is what the audience wants me to do, me to go out and do kick ass and to be the guy that is, you know, wiping out evil and all the bad people and all the stuff and did I protect everyone else and then the good guy."
Arnold Schwarzenegger said he understood that this was what was expected from him by the audience and they wanted him to go out and fight the bad and evil guys.
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He said that he felt the only way to go beyond typecasting and make everyone comfortable was by him just saying that they (studios) shouldn't be the only ones investing in him.
The former California governor insisted he invests in himself too and doesn't want to be paid for the movie. He said that it would be enough if the studios paid for the production alone. The ace bodybuilder stated that the above lines were basically the exact lines he said to the famous director Ivan Reitman, who directed the film "Twins".
Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled a time when he was having dinner with Ivan Reitman and Robin Williams. Ivan admitted that Arnold was funny and there were so many things about Arnold that he hadn't seen in a movie.
Ivan further insisted that he wanted to see the funny side of Arnold in a movie, according to Schwarzenegger.
The Total Recall star said he asked Ivan Reitman to come up with a project (an idea for a movie) for him and he loved being directed by him in a comedy film. Arnold said he admitted to Ivan that no one wanted to do a comedy film with him because he was an action star.
Schwarzenegger claimed that Ivan came up with five ideas and they picked a story called experiment which was later changed to "Twins". Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, and Ivan Reitman decided not to take a salary for the film. But the three of them signed a deal that would allow them to take a share of the film's profits at the box office.
The Conan star said that he, Ivan, and Danny got the majority of the profits the film made at the box office. He claimed that the deal signed by them became a very historic deal and that the studios weren't willing to accept that kind of deal after that no matter who the actors or directors were.
Schwarzenegger stated that the production cost was 16 and a half million dollars, but it would've been 50 million dollars if he, Ivan, and Danny had received a salary for the movie.
Arnold claimed the movie Twins was made with such a low budget and earned around 260 to 270 million dollars. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his deal in the comedy film "Twins" was the best investment ever made by him.