Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Failure in Special Class Made Him Perfect for James Cameron’s Terminator
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most talented actors of his generation. Although his transition from bodybuilding to acting was not busy due to various reasons, he was not one to give up. He was determined to make a name for himself in the industry and with the all hard work he did, it was impossible to stop him from getting what he wanted.
Arnold Schwarzenegger made his film debut in 1970 with the movie Hercules in New York. His lines had to be dubbed in the movie because of his thick accent. The accent proved to be a major obstacle in his way to become an actor so he hired an accent coach. However, that evidently did not help. In fact, that very accent made James Cameron’s Terminator as successful as it became.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Accent Played a Role in Terminator‘s Success
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born and brought up in Thal, Austria. He had been an average student academically and was later diagnosed as being dyslexic. His father Gustav Schwarzenegger was an athlete and war veteran. This influenced the Commando star to become a bodybuilder. So, his accent was not much of an issue until he chose to become an actor.
During an interview on The Graham Norton Show, Schwarzenegger revealed how he had hired different coaches to help him prepare for his acting career in Hollywood. He told Norton:
“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 mean, I should have otherwise gotten my money back.”
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Ironically, the accent that the former governor was trying so hard to remove was the very thing that made his movie Terminator successful. Director James Cameron told him as much. While talking to Graham Norton, Schwarzenegger said:
“When I did ‘Terminator,’ Jim Cameron said, ‘What made ‘Terminator’ work and why it became successful is because Schwarzenegger talks like a machine.'”
This incident proved that the very thing that he was running from was going to help him achieve great heights in his career. Now, the Last Action Hero has an easily recognizable voice.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Accent-Removal Coach Made Him Do Various Exercises
Despite making his debut in 1970, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough role did not come until 1982 when he starred in the epic sword and sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian. Adamant on making it in the Hollywood entertainment industry, he did everything in his power.
Schwarzenegger told Graham Norton about the various exercises that the accent-removal coach made him do to improve his pronunciation. He said:
“I remember he’d say, ‘You know you always say ‘sree.’ It’s ‘three,’ with a ‘T-H.’ So he had me say, ‘Three thousand three hundred and thirty-three and one-third,’ with the ‘T-H’ and not with the ‘S. We would say, ‘This is a nice vine.’ But it’s actually ‘wine,’ right? So the guy had me say ‘A fine wine grows on vine.'”
These exercises were helpful as the Predator star kept saying such things over and over again, but it certainly did not help him get rid of his accent for good if his success as an actor is anything to go by.
