Looking back at a legendary career that saw him conquer the action genre, arguably become the biggest-ever star in the history of the medium, and endure as one of the most iconic A-list superstars of modern Hollywood, it’s fascinating to remember Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s three most defining tributes were all deemed as killing his chances at stardom.
The actor saw his name changed to Arnold Strong and his thick Austrian brogue dubbed over for his feature film debut in Hercules in New York, while he was repeatedly told that he was far too jacked to succeed in his chosen profession. As the old saying goes; history remembers the victor, and it would be fair to say Schwarzenegger has proven himself the winner on those three fronts and then some.
Ironically, he was planning to take at least some of that advice on board when he was starting out in the industry, revealing in his typical deadpan style during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that he’d even hired a coach specifically to help his accent become more palatable to mainstream American audiences.
“I had an English coach and an acting coach and a speech coach and an accent-removal coach, who has passed away since then, but I should have otherwise gotten my money back. The funny thing was all the stuff that they said, the Hollywood producers and the directors and all the geniuses, they were saying this was an obstacle for me to become a leading man, became an asset.”
Anyone who says they haven’t done an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression at least once in their life is probably lying, so it’s unfathomable to imagine him trying so hard to actively suppress what’s easily one of the most distinct, unmistakable, and unforgettable voices cinema has ever heard.
Published: Oct 31, 2023 03:38 am