25 October 2023 , 18:41
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He was the world’s greatest
, then one of Hollywood’s biggest-ever stars... before becoming governor of California.
Now 76, Arnold Schwarzenegger is reinventing himself again, sharing the secrets of his success with new self-help book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life. During an event at London’s Royal Albert Hall this week, the action hero provided a fascinating insight into his life, career and motivation…
On criticism from his parents:
My mother came into my bedroom and said, “Why are all these naked men hanging on the wall above your bed? All your friends have girls hanging up, and you have men.” My mother called the doctor. He came to our house and he looked at the wall and said, “This is quite normal. Don’t worry.” And so my mother finally stopped crying. My father said that if I wanted to get muscles, I should chop wood for the old lady next door and not just look at myself in the mirror all the time. This is what I went through. It wasn’t easy.
Arnie has released a self-help book (Getty Images for Fane)On his Hollywood struggle:
Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood were making $1million a movie and I thought, “That sounds good”, so I went and tried to convince Hollywood. I said, “Look, I’m a bodybuilding champion, I just did the movie Pumping Iron. I want to get into movies.” And the guy said, “You’re crazy. We can barely understand you.” And he said my name was too long – “Schwarzesmitzel or whatever”. So I said to myself, “OK, that particular ladder is very hard to climb so I’ll build my own ladder and climb that.”
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On his rival Sylvester Stallone:
I got belittled by the press, not just in the US but worldwide. The worst was when they said that Stallone was more successful. Oh, man… hell broke loose when they said that. We had a tremendous amount of competition in the '80s. We were like little children. We were so stupid. We were, like, who’s making more money at the box office? Who is getting better reviews? Who has less body fat? Who is using bigger guns? Who is killing more people on the screen? Insane.
On getting old:
I’m not happy with what I see in the mirror. When you get older you realise you’re not going to be as ripped any more. But I feel fantastic, mentally and physically. That’s the most important thing.
Arnie had an 'insane' rivalry with Sylvester Stallone (Getty Images)On his pets:
We have a miniature horse, a donkey and three dogs but that was not enough. George Clooney, way back when we did Batman & Robin, had a little pig on set so I decided I wanted a pig as a house pet. And so we have this pig, who now weighs 50lb, and he is hilarious. That pig sleeps in the kitchen at night with the dogs, he loves oatmilk cookies, and he runs up to me like a dog. He even jumps up on my lap just like a dog. It’s really fun, having these animals.
On running for president:
It is constitutionally impossible for me to become President of the United States because no one who is foreign-born is allowed to be president. I think I would actually make a good Speaker because I was good in Kindergarten Cop and I could handle the politicians who act like children. In any case, everything I have accomplished is because of America, so I won’t complain about the one job that I can’t do.
* Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ebury Edge, £20