13 He Predicted The Future
One of the first thing any fitness junkie will tell you once you’ve decided to trade in your family-sized bag of Cheetos for a gym membership is getting buff is all about setting attainable goals. For instance, you’ll tell yourself you’re going to lose three pounds by the end of the week rather than hoping to lose ten inches off your waistline by summer. However, being that he was already pretty jacked by age 15, Schwarzenegger apparently saw no reason to dream small and laid out a life goal that seems pretty damn outrageous on paper. According to many of his childhood friends, Arnie’s life plan was to move to America, become a famous actor, and marry a Kennedy. And that’s exactly how that sh*t went down. After starring in Hollywood’s biggest movies, Arnold married Maria Shriver, for twenty-five years, who is, in fact, a niece of John, Robert and Ted Kennedy.
12 He Wasn’t Supposed To Be The Terminator
Arnold Schwarzenegger probably wouldn’t be Arnold Schwarzenegger if it wasn’t for his iconic role as the cybernetic organism, The Terminator, in the 1984 action film of the same name, and according to Hollywood legend, he almost wasn’t. Director James Cameron originally wanted Schwarzenegger for the lead role of Kyle Reese, and at that point in his career Schwarzenegger was trying to build notoriety around playing heroes, but he had his concerns about whoever was cast as the deadly mechanical villain. “I told Cameron: ‘One thing that concerns me is that whoever is playing the Terminator, if it’s O.J. Simpson or whoever, it’s very important that he gets trained the right way,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his memoir, Total Recall, “because if the guy is really a machine he won’t blink when he shoots.” In the end, Arnold didn’t have much faith in anyone else doing the role justice and picked up the shotgun himself, making sure everything was done perfectly and even practiced disassembling and reassembling the weapon daily for weeks prior to filming.
11 He Did Time In Military Prison
Back in 1960s Austria it was legally required that all 18-year-old eligible males serve one year of service in the Austrian Army, and in 1965, being the law-abiding young man he was, Schwarzenegger followed suit, that is until the timing conflicted with his dream of bodybuilding. During basic training, Schwarzenegger went AWOL so he could compete for the title of Junior Mr. Europe, his first of many competitions. He left with a first place trophy but had to spend a week in military prison upon his return. “Participating in the competition meant so much to me I didn’t carefully think through the consequences,” he later said. Good thing he didn’t, two years later he became the youngest person to ever win the Mr. Universe title and the rest is history.
Discussion about this post