There’s a line in Arnold, the new three-part limited docuseries about the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger that perfectly encapsulates the essence of the athlete, actor and politician in the five decades he’s been a household name.
“If you’re always hungry, you’re never really satisfied,” Schwarzenegger says in his instantly recognizable baritone. It’s one of a number of motivating mega-statements he makes throughout the series, describing a belief system that he actually lives by. After all, the man has reinvented himself countless times as a professional bodybuilder, actor, filmmaker, businessman and politician, an inspiring résumé for a kid from a small town in Austria.
In his latest role as the orator of his own story, the former governor of California provides audiences with context and insight into three key chapters of his life: Arnold as an athlete, Arnold as an actor and Arnold as an American.
The first episode of the series focuses on Schwarzenegger’s upbringing in post-war Austria, including his family life and first foray into fitness and competitive bodybuilding. At the beginning of the episode, Schwarzenegger reflects on what he describes as a “lifelong talent for clearly seeing the path in front of him.” In other words, his childhood laid the foundation for what it would take for Arnold to become the international celebrity he is today.
“The idea was to sculpt the body to your will,” he says in the episode, “But it can also be used to shape your mind — to do the things that everyone calls impossible. I had a fire in the belly for much, much more.”
In “Athlete,” he discusses the more difficult parts of his childhood, including his father’s role as disciplinarian and his role in encouraging the competitive relationship Schwarzenegger had with his brother. The episode also hits other major moments in Schwarzenegger’s rise to fame, including his 1968 victory in the Mr. Universe competition in London — followed closely by his crushing loss at the Mr. Universe competition in the United States.
“I was absolutely convinced I was going to beat the American bodybuilders,” Schwarzenegger says. Instead, he came in second — and while he remembers the loss as embarrassing, he handled the bounce back in true Arnold fashion.
“I cried the whole night,” he says. “The next day, I said, ‘Okay, you cried like a little baby, you asshole. Now, let’s move on.’ ”
In the second installment of Arnold, the bodybuilder-turned-actor reflects on what it took to make such a major career transition — especially since plenty of Hollywood managers and agents dismissed him due to his size.
“It’s a weird adjustment to go from bodybuilding to becoming an actor,” Schwarzenegger says in the episode. His first chance at an acting role was for a novel-turned-film called Stay Hungry, written by Charles Gaines about the life of a bodybuilder. Physically, Schwarzenegger was perfect for the part — and even convinced the filmmakers he could brush up his acting chops and accent for the role. This led to his much more widely known appearance in Pumping Iron, a 1977 documentary that introduced the sport to the general public.
“1977 was wild,” Schwarzenegger recalls in the doc. “Pumping Iron became a sensation. I was hanging out with Andy Warhol, famous artists, on the cover of magazines and talk shows — and when Stay Hungry came out, it was even more insane.”
But while that year certainly laid the foundation for Schwarzenegger’s success in Hollywood, it wasn’t a linear path forward. In “Actor,” Arnold explores all the ups and downs of his pursuit of an acting career, including the tremendous commercial success of the Terminator franchise.
The third and final episode of Arnold is probably the most complex of the series, and explores how Schwarzenegger’s can’t-quit life philosophy and box office viability as an actor led to his run for governor of California. According to him, the same level of naysaying he’d experienced earlier in his career was what drove him to run in the first place.
“The very agents and managers that said to me in the ’70s, ‘You will never make it, don’t even get into acting,’ are the same people who said ‘Are you crazy? You’re making $20 or $30 million a movie now,’ ” Schwarzenegger recalls. “But the more someone says you can’t, or that this is impossible, the more excited I get over it.”
Schwarzenegger also discusses some of the darkest moments in his life — including an explosive LA Times story in the lead-up to his gubernatorial run. “My reaction in the beginning, I was defensive,” Schwarzenegger says in Arnold. “Today I can look at it and say it doesn’t matter what time it is, whether it’s the Muscle Beach days, or 40 years ago, or today, this was wrong. It was bullshit. Forget all the excuses. It was wrong.”
Schwarzenegger also reflects on his infidelity in “American,” particularly the pain he caused his ex-wife Maria Shriver and their children.
“People will remember my successes,” he says in the episode. “But people will also remember my failures.”
Beyond his personal life, “American” also dives into Schwarzenegger’s governing philosophy that led to political reform, infrastructure investment, and historic clean energy legislation.
The three-part series is directed by Lesley Chilcott (An Inconvenient Truth) and executive produced by Allen Hughes (The Defiant Ones) and follows the May 25 release of FUBAR, Schwarzenegger’s new high-octane action series where he plays a CIA operative on the verge of retirement until (of course) he’s asked to do one last job.
Watch Arnold on Netflix now.
