From winning Mr. Olympia multiple times to becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger has done it all. While the Austrian Oak has made his presence felt in some of the biggest blockbusters, the Terminator series cemented his place as one of Hollywood’s leading superstars.
While the bodybuilding champion was the bonafide talisman of the James Cameron films, he forged an excellent partnership with his co-star Linda Hamilton who played a pivotal role as Sarah Connor in the Terminator series. But Schwarzenegger was surprised to hear from his colleague that she was initially reluctant to pair up with him due to certain preconceived notions that she had about films and the actor.
Linda Hamilton Almost Rejected Working With Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton became one of the most popular on-screen pairs following their association in three films in the Terminator franchise. After starring together in the first two installments, Hamilton reprised her role years later in 2019 with Terminator: Dark Fate. While their partnership was a defining factor in the films becoming blockbusters, the King Kong Lives actor had her doubts about jumping on board.
The two stars appeared together in The Graham Norton Show a few years ago to look back on their cult association. During the course of the conversation where many interesting titbits were shared, Hamilton revealed that she was initially not keen on signing up for this film or working with the True Lies actor. Elaborating on the reasons behind her hesitation, she said,
”You move from New York, you’re training with Lee Strasberg, and you know you can’t go to LA, it will ruin you, you can’t do LA movies they suck. I mean, New York is tough. So here’s Arnold starring in this film and my people are very excited, and I was like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’”
On hearing this conversation, Schwarzenegger gave Hamilton an amused and bewildered look and said,
”You never told me that story!”
But as fate would have it, the Dante’s Peak actor trusted her instinct and took the plunge by going to visit the former Mr Olympia on set. From then on, everything fell into place and the rest as they say, is history.
This Crucial Decision Made Arnold Schwarzenegger A Superstar
Arnold Schwarzenegger is arguably one of Hollywood’s most iconic superstars, especially in the realm of action. Over 5 decades, the Austrian celebrity has been the face of some of the industry’s biggest blockbusters including Terminator, True Lies, Commando, and many more. He was so passionate about his dream to become an actor, that he was willing to turn down a promising offer to represent Jack Lalanne Gyms which was right up his alley as a champion bodybuilding exponent.
The Expendables star in an appearance in The Howard Stern Show, elaborated on the reasons behind refusing the deal and following his passion to pursue movies. Speaking of what attracted him to Hollywood, who he was inspired by, and what prompted him to take the plunge as an actor, The former Governor of California said,
“I thought about it, and I said to myself, Wait a minute. My goal is to be a leading man in movies and to be another Clint Eastwood and Charles Branson. Those were the big stars at the time and got a million dollars a movie. I want to make a million dollars a movie and I want to shoot for that goal”.
While the money that was offered by Jack Lalanne Gyms to Schwarzenegger was not small change, the actor confessed that the hectic schedule of working 10 to 12 hours a day for the organization would have denied him the opportunity to study acting and do the things that he wanted to achieve in his life.
Terminator (1984) can be rented on Amazon Prime.
