Arnold Schwarzenegger has experience in a variety of fields. The seven-time Mr. Olympia champion, who is now a Hollywood actor, has even dabbled in literature. He is, in short, an all-round player with multiple talents. The former politician once played Hamlet in a scene in John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero. Not only can he do everything, but he can also make people laugh until their stomachs hurt.
Schwarzenegger, accompanied by one of Britain’s greatest actresses, Dame Judi Dench, once again had the audience laughing uncontrollably at the Graham Norton Show. Nobody could have predicted that Dench’s electrifying performance of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 would be overshadowed by a witty remark from the Commando actor.
The Terminator star mocked the actress’ intense performance by remarking that she had “more dialogue” than he had in all of his films combined.
Here’s How Dame Judi Dench Won the Hearts of the Audience
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 was recited by Dame Judi Dench, leaving the audience stunned on The Graham Norton Show. The actress, 88, was on the talk show to promote her memoir, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. Speaking about her memoir on the show, where she was joined by Jack Whitehall and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dench said,
“Michael [her late husband Michael Williams] and I were both in Shakespeare plays for four years when we first met so he literally was paying our rent.”
When Graham Norton asked the actress about Shakespeare’s influence on her life, she replied:
“We do not realize, Graham. We quote Shakespeare all the time, perhaps without knowing it.”
Norton then put Dench to the test, forcing her to recite Sonnet 29 from memory. But she did it so elegantly. To quote her:
“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at break of day arising from sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings, That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”
Because of her roles as Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (1987), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Ophelia in Hamlet, the eight Olivier Awards-winning actress has long been considered a master of Shakespearean drama.
Also read: 6 Sylvester Stallone Movies That Should’ve Cast Arnold Schwarzenegger Instead
Dame Judi Dench’s Shakespeare Recital was Hilariously Ruined by Arnold Schwarzenegger
The atmosphere was silent and solemn after Dame Judi Dench’s exquisite recital, but Arnold Schwarzenegger soon brought a sense of humor and made everyone laugh. He was astounded by the length of the sonnet. With extreme casualness, he remarked:
“There’s more dialogue than I had in my movies altogether.”
Everyone erupted into laughter the moment Schwarzenegger said this. Graham Norton inquired about the Austrian Oak’s involvement in a Shakespearean scene after this ordeal. The actor remembered doing a scene in Last Action Hero from Hamlet in which he uttered the lines “to be or not to be”. Then, as the castle behind him erupted into flames, Schwarzenegger declared, “Not to be.”
He even discussed the Last Action Hero in his book, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story. Schwarzenegger portrayed the fictional LAPD detective Jack Slater in John McTiernan’s 1993 fantasy action-comedy film. The actor wrote:
“We licensed seven kinds of video games, a $20 million promotion with Burger King, a $36 million ‘ride film’ to go into amusement parks… NASA picked us to be the first-ever paid advertisement in outer space.”
Last Action Hero was a critical and financial disaster that did not live up to Columbia Pictures’s high hopes at the box office. Nonetheless, it did gain a cult following after its release and is regarded by some as one of Schwarzenegger’s best movies.
Schwarzenegger was recently seen in his first leading role in a scripted live-action TV series, FUBAR, created by Nick Santora for Netflix.
