“I Thought He Was the Terminator”: While Shooting the Predator Film, Arnold Schwarzenegger Had to Keep Reminding the Director That He Was Not a Superhuman

While characters in a movie are part of a writer’s and director’s imagination, actors are the ones who bring the characters to life. Sometimes, the actors make their audience forget its reel not reality, with their spectacular acting. For instance, many fans can’t imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man. That’s because Downey Jr. brought the comic book character to life. Arnold Schwarzenegger did something similar back in 1984.

That year, his career-defining movie, The Terminator, came out which left a deep impact on the viewers. Such was the case that many started believing he actually possessed superhuman. Mark Lester, the director of his next movie Commando, was no different. In one of his interviews, Lester confessed how he once deluded himself into believing the bodybuilding icon had superhuman strength.

Arnold Schwarzenegger charmed his viewers a little too much

Six months after Terminator came out in 1984, Arnold Schwarzenegger started shooting for Predator. Arnie was nearing his peak at this time, not just in terms of his popularity, but also as a bankable leading man. Schwarzenegger’s stature led Mark Lester to believe the actor could do anything. Hence, Lester wanted Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix to do just about anything, in his movie Commando.

As Schwarzenegger’s character in the said movie was supposed to do superhuman things like lifting a 200-pound phone booth. Lester thought Schwarzenegger would actually lift the phone booth. This was because he thought the actor could easily lift 350 pounds of weight. The high expectations forced Arnie to constantly remind Lester that he is just a human.

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Arnie snapped at Lester and asked if he was insane. This was the moment that gave Mark Lester the much-needed reality check. In an interview with Yahoo in 2020, the director confessed, “I thought he was the Terminator, and he kept having to say no.” But Schwarzenegger isn’t the only bodybuilder who has seen the downside of playing an insanely strong character.

Lou Ferrigno was in a similar fix

Another bodybuilder, Lou Ferrigno faced the repercussions of playing the angry superhero, The Hulk. In one of his interviews, the mass monster revealed how people had started avoiding him, fearing he’ll turn into the Hulk if he gets angry. While it greatly upset the actor, there was nothing he could do about it. Just like that, one of his most popular roles eventually became a thorn in his personal life.

Like Lester and Ferrigno’s fans, many times people forget that the people we see on the screen are just characters played by actors. Simple because Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger were champion bodybuilders who played larger-than-life characters on screen, people formed misconceptions. Fortunately, with time, such fantastical misconceptions faded away.

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