“People Would Call Me a Nazi”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Makes Painful Confession About His Initial Few Years in America

Arnold Schwarzenegger might be one of the biggest names in Hollywood today, but the Austrian’s initial years in the United States of America were far from being easy. The man who immigrated from Austria to the United States started his career with bodybuilding, then moved on to movies and finally dipped his toe into politics. He was successful on every front. But when he first landed in America in 1968, his heavy German accent didn’t sit well with most Americans at the time. It was only two decades since World War II was over, and the Americans likened his German accent and roots to being a N*zi.

Arnold Schwarzenegger recounted his terrible experiences after coming to America in a recent interview. He also states how he didn’t pay much heed to such name-calling and simply went about doing his work. It made him into the man he is today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger faced uncalled hatred after landing in the US

In a recent interview with Parade magazine, reporter Mara Reinstein asked Arnold Schwarzenegger, “What was your biggest barrier?” Schwarzenegger replied, “When I came to America, there was tremendous prejudice towards German accents. You know people would call me a N*zi”, without any hesitation. The anti-Nazi sentiment was still very high around the US.

People didn’t give a second chance to Schwarzenegger, whose accent gave away where he came from, and he had to bear the brunt of it. But Schwarzenegger was determined and focused to achieve what he wanted. He said, “But I didn’t give a s–t. I mean, I just wanted to climb the ladder”.

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Schwarzenegger did climb the ladder, and that too in an emphatic fashion. He started his first job laying bricks with fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu and started earning money through real estate. Soon, he would enter some of the biggest bodybuilding competitions in the world.

How Joe Weider changed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life

Arnold Schwarzenegger met IFBB co-founder and Olympia creator Joe Weider at a bodybuilding contest in Europe. This chance meeting changed his life. Schwarzenegger would go on to win 7 Mr. Olympia in his career, before quitting and entering Hollywood. Joe Weider got him his first acting gig in Hercules in New York. If facing the American public in the initial years with his heavy accent was difficult, entering into movies with the accent almost seemed impossible. But Joe Weider made it happen.

That was the beginning of a glorious career, which is yet far from over. His new Netflix series FUBAR is currently out and a 3-part Netflix documentary titled ‘Arnold’ will be out later this year. Schwarzenegger has built an empire for himself in America, and yet his accent is still there. However, it will be a cold day before someone calls him a N*zi now.

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