
Get to the chopper." "I'll be back
It's now 11:00 on a bright London morning, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man who knows what people want. When I ask if the ongoing actors' strike means that I'll have to deliver his most famous catchphrases, he doesn't hold back.
Lines from "Predator" and "Terminator" echo amid dumbbells and treadmills. "The actors' strike prevents you from promoting your movies, but I'm not obligated to promote them," he protests.
Even at 76 years old, Schwarzenegger is not one to argue about fine print in labor unions. Here, an industrial action hero meets an action hero.
We sit on adjacent benches in the gym and conduct an interview for BBC Breakfast at the heart of his personal training center, Guardians, located on Parliament Hill in Lido, and we have the place to ourselves. "This gym is better than Claridge's this morning," he exclaims enthusiastically, while subtly letting me know that he's already had his workout for the day.
My cameraman Peter has written "Arnold Schwarzenegger" on his clapperboard and turns to him, concerned, and asks, "Did I spell your name correctly, please?"
I can confirm that it takes even Arnold Schwarzenegger a good two seconds to check the spelling of his own name before he looks up and smiles, saying, "Yes."
With one clap, the interview can begin.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unstoppable killing machine in the 1984 science fiction thriller "The Terminator." SOURCE IMAGE, UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES Caption to the image, Schwarzenegger played an unstoppable killing machine in "The Terminator" in 1984. I will be a book Arnold Schwarzenegger is in London to talk about his new book, "The Total Money Makeover," which has garnered support in unexpected places. The Guardian is not known for its love of Republican politicians, but its review concludes, "A self-improvement guide that actually works."
The Los Angeles Times, with far less enthusiasm, stated, "Writing isn't that hard," but still acknowledged, "After reading the book, did I work out a little harder? Definitely."
And that's precisely what Arnold ("He prefers Arnold Arnie," his security guard informed us before his arrival) wants from the book.
Seven chapters include "Work Your Butt Off," "Never Think Small," and "Shut Up, Open Your Mind."
"The idea is to make people more successful," he explains.
"It was one of those things that I never dreamt of—being a motivational speaker or writing motivational books because when I grew up, all I wanted was just to be the most muscular man in the world," says the seven-time Mr. Olympia and four-time Mr. Universe before adding, "And get into movies and make millions of dollars."
However, things changed after two decades of box office hits, including "Conan the Barbarian," "Twins," and "True Lies."
Suddenly, he had "new dreams" and "new goals," and he found that "people really needed motivation, and they were looking to me for answers. They admired what I had achieved, and I saw it as an opportunity and a need, and that's how this book came about."
I ask if self-help is a dirty word, and his response reveals what he believes to be a common misconception about it: "We need a combination of helping ourselves, but also getting help from the outside. I always hate it when people say to me, 'You are the perfect example of someone who did everything by himself.'"
Here is a unique translation of the provided text into English:
"Get to the chopper." "I'll be back."
It's now 11:00 on a bright London morning, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man who knows what people want. When I ask if the ongoing actors' strike means that I'll have to deliver his most famous catchphrases, he doesn't hold back.
Lines from "Predator" and "Terminator" echo amid dumbbells and treadmills. "The actors' strike prevents you from promoting your movies, but I'm not obligated to promote them," he protests.
Even at 76 years old, Schwarzenegger is not one to argue about fine print in labor unions. Here, an industrial action hero meets an action hero.
We sit on adjacent benches in the gym and conduct an interview for BBC Breakfast at the heart of his personal training center, Guardians, located on Parliament Hill in Lido, and we have the place to ourselves. "This gym is better than Claridge's this morning," he exclaims enthusiastically, while subtly letting me know that he's already had his workout for the day.
My cameraman Peter has written "Arnold Schwarzenegger" on his clapperboard and turns to him, concerned, and asks, "Did I spell your name correctly, please?"
I can confirm that it takes even Arnold Schwarzenegger a good two seconds to check the spelling of his own name before he looks up and smiles, saying, "Yes."
With one clap, the interview can begin.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unstoppable killing machine in the 1984 science fiction thriller "The Terminator." SOURCE IMAGE, UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES Caption to the image, Schwarzenegger played an unstoppable killing machine in "The Terminator" in 1984. I will be a book Arnold Schwarzenegger is in London to talk about his new book, "Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life," which has garnered support in unexpected places. The Guardian is not known for its love of Republican politicians, but its review concludes, "A self-improvement guide that actually works."
The Los Angeles Times, with far less enthusiasm, stated, "Writing isn't that hard," but still acknowledged, "After reading the book, did I work out a little harder? Definitely."
And that's precisely what Arnold ("He prefers Arnold Arnie," his security guard informed us before his arrival) wants from the book.
Seven chapters include "Work Your Butt Off," "Never Think Small," and "Shut Up, Open Your Mind."
"The idea is to make people more successful," he explains.
"It was one of those things that I never dreamt of—being a motivational speaker or writing motivational books because when I grew up, all I wanted was just to be the most muscular man in the world," says the seven-time Mr. Olympia and four-time Mr. Universe before adding, "And get into movies and make millions of dollars."
However, things changed after two decades of box office hits, including "Conan the Barbarian," "Twins," and "True Lies."
Suddenly, he had "new dreams" and "new goals," and he found that "people really needed motivation, and they were looking to me for answers. They admired what I had achieved, and I saw it as an opportunity and a need, and that's how this book came about."
I ask if self-help is a dirty word, and his response reveals what he believes to be a common misconception about it: "We need a combination of helping ourselves, but also getting help from the outside. I always hate it when people say to me, 'You are the perfect example of someone who did everything by himself.'"
"I hate that," he repeats more emphatically.
"I don't want anyone to think that they can do it all by themselves. We all need help."
Next comes a long list of people without whose help and inspiration, according to Schwarzenegger, he would not have achieved success. They range from Reg Park, a bodybuilder from Leeds who appeared in Hercules films in the 1960s, to "5.8 million people who voted for me," referring to his two terms as the Republican governor of California.
"In the book, I explain that we all need to seek help, and once you realize that, you also realize that you need to help others," he says.
Helping others is what Schwarzenegger has been doing for the past three decades; from participating in the Special Olympics to donating $1 million (£800,000) to frontline workers during the pandemic and hosting a charity poker dinner at Oktoberfest earlier this month, which raised $7 million (£5.8 million) for his After-School All-Stars program. Lederhosen wore sweatpants.
Headline, Arnie shakes hands with BBC correspondent Colin Paterson
However, Schwarzenegger wants people to know that he has also experienced significant setbacks.
"There were huge defeats and huge losses," he shares, before going into detail about bodybuilding competitions where he was defeated and movies that flopped at the box office. (His nomination for Worst Actor for his role as Mr. Freeze in "Batman and Robin" was a particular career low.)
"And there were even personal losses, such as my marriage," he continues, showing a willingness to be vulnerable that seemed unlikely, considering he killed 77 people in one of the scenes in "Commando."
Be Useful doesn't delve into his extramarital affairs, including the affair with the nanny that led to his divorce from John F. Kennedy's niece Maria Shriver. He detailed all of this in his 2012 autobiography, "Total Recall." However, it shows how he rose from what he describes in the book's introduction as "his world crumbling around him."
"You have to take responsibility for these mistakes. You can't go and blame someone else for that. Take responsibility. Take responsibility for these mistakes and learn from them, and then come back and be better."
Ryan Holiday (left) and Arnold Schwarzenegger attend a conversation with Ryan Holiday on 92nd Street Y on October 10, 2023, in New York. SOURCE IMAGE, GETTY IMAGES Caption to the image, Schwarzenegger's new book promises to provide seven tools for life Despite all his accomplishments, Arnold Schwarzenegger will never be President of the United States.
The U.S. Constitution states that anyone holding that office must be a natural-born citizen. Schwarzenegger hails from Thal, Austria, where he lived until he was 19.
I ask him how much his disqualification bothers him.
"I feel that I would make a great president," he says, without a hint of self-doubt, before continuing, "But at the same time, I feel that everything I have achieved happened because of America.
"America gave me so many opportunities, and the American people were so embracing, and they just embraced me with open arms. There was no one who could stand in my way to succeed.
"So the only thing I cannot do is run for president, I'm not going to complain about it."
One thing is clear: he hasn't completely given up hope of someday holding the highest office in the land: "I mean, there's the constitution. We absolutely need immigration reform to change that. It would be a bit selfish if I go and try to change the law."