Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian Cast Weirdly Enjoyed Drinking Fake Blood and Created Shortage Despite Films $79.1 Million Budget

Seven-times Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger has inspired countless individuals with his motivating life journey. His entry into the realm of Hollywood was also an exciting tale. While the bodybuilding veteran made his debut in 1974, the movie that helped him boost his acting career was ‘Conan the Barbarian.’ 

Schwarzenegger himself had to go through a lot of challenges while shooting and preparing for the role. He had to workout regularly in order to maintain a jacked physique. Even though this was not a very tough thing for Arnold, given his past bodybuilding experience, he also had to learn a lot of skills like fighting, rock climbing, etc. But what most people are not aware of is the fun fact that the cast and crew of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ also drank blood during the shooting. 

The reason behind Arnold Schwarzenegger and team’s blood consumption 

The movie was shot mainly in the province of Almería, which offered a semiarid climate, diverse terrain, and Roman and Moorish structures that could be adapted for many settings. According to movieweb.com, due to the cold temperature, the fake blood used during the filming and shooting of the movie used to freeze. The fake blood used in movies is generally a mixture of a deep-crimson concentrate and water. 

 “The extreme cold weather caused the blood-water mixture to constantly freeze, so the crew improvised and mixed the concentrate with vodka instead,” as reported by movieweb.com. 

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This is why, “In scenes where actors are attacked and spit up blood, many of them would “accidentally” swallow the alcoholic blood instead, then request more from the effects team.” However, apart from the fun, Schwarzenegger also dealt with a lot of pain and trouble for the role.

Director John Milius made Schwarzenegger do weird things

While Schwarzenegger was no stranger to working hard, for the role in ‘Conan the Barbarian,’ he had to learn a lot of skills like sword fighting, rock climbing, etc. In his recent book, ‘Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life,’ he describes in detail the challenges that he faced during the shooting of the movie. 

He continued by disclosing, “I bit a real, dead vulture that required I wash my mouth out with alcohol after each take. (PETA would have had a field day with that one.) On one of the first days of filming, I tore a gash on my back that required forty stitches.”

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Director John Milius’s response to Arnold’s complaints about this was simple: “Pain is temporary, this film will be permanent.” And it proved to be true. Even decades after its release, ‘Conan the Barbarian’ is still close to countless hearts. What are your views on the movie? Let us know in the comments.