‘Arnold smokes cigars, Tom does push-ups’: Schwarzenegger and Cruise are unsurprising opposites between takes

They might both rank among the most iconic, successful, and instantly-recognizable movie stars there’s ever been, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise to discover that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise have very different approaches when it comes to making action-heavy projects.

Whereas the former built his career and legacy on his ridiculous muscularity, radiant charisma, formidable screen presence, and well-timed ability to drop an unforgettable one-liner, the latter carved out his own niche risking life and limb for our entertainment. Opposites to the extreme, then, but equally viable methods seeing as they’ve been at the top of the Hollywood tree for the last 40 years.

Monica Barbaro has had the experience of working with both, following up her appearance in Top Gun: Maverick with second billing behind the Austrian Oak in Netflix series FUBAR, and she outlined just how starkly different their respective ways are in an interview with Variety.

“It’s funny, they could not be more opposite. Tom asks a lot of questions, and wants to understand every single piece of what’s going on. Arnold, if I started asking questions, he’d be like, “Better not to know.” And that’s very trusting. It’s not to say that one approach is better than the other, but it’s just night and day. Arnold is smoking cigars between takes, and Tom is working on the next seven scenes or doing push-ups or something. 

They are complete opposites in their energy and how they approach the work, but they both show up knowing their lines, work really hard and do not let the crew waste any time on their behalf. Still, Arnold loves a good chess game, and he will not stop it for anything — literally anything. We even went into his trailer one day to sing him happy birthday, and he was like, “I have to finish this chess game.” And we’re like, “OK, and we’ll be outside,” and marched out with our candles.”

Schwarzenegger and Cruse also have the benefit of immediately commanding respect from anyone in their orbit given what the pair have accomplished, just don’t expect the Terminator legend to drop and give anybody 20 when there’s a perfectly good stogie that needs to be smoked.