The action star Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for leading blockbusters like The Terminator, and Commando, among many others. He has had a remarkable journey from being a world-renowned bodybuilder to the Hollywood icon that he is today. And during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the actor shared a piece of advice he received in the initial years of his career. Despite diligently following up with the advice, Schwarzenegger candidly revealed that the results were not what he anticipated.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Once Hired an Accent Removal Coach
In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared that during the initial years of his career, he was told that his thick Austrian accent could be an “obstacle” for him to land a leading man reputation in Hollywood.
He said,
“The funny thing was all the stuff that they said, the Hollywood producers and the directors and all the geniuses were saying this was an obstacle for me to become a leading man.”
Looking forward to being a Hollywood star at the time, the Predator actor took it seriously and started working on his accent. He shared that he had an “English coach and an acting coach and a speech coach and an accent-removal coach.” Schwarzenegger shared that he sincerely followed his lessons as he repeated certain sentences and words over and over again.
“The bottom line is I worked on it,” he shared. However, despite all that work and practice, the Total Recall star claimed that he did not get rid of his accent. Referring to failed accent removal classes, Schwarzenegger jokingly said that he should have “gotten [his] money back.” However, things still turned out pretty well for him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Accent Turned Out to be an Asset
Further into the interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared that while the Hollywood “geniuses” claimed his accent would be an obstacle for him, it “became an asset.” The actor shared that his personality and accent enhanced his performances in some of the career-defining movies.
He shared that the director of his breakthrough film Conan the Barbarian said, “If we wouldn’t have had Schwarzenegger, we would have had to build one,” as he fit the description of the character. The True Lies actor recalled James Cameron, the director of his 1984 film The Terminator, saying that the reason it was successful was that Schwarzenegger “talks like a machine.” While he was told that his distinctive accent would become a hurdle in his career, it became a defining element of his onscreen characters.
