“Shame on You Arnold”: How Arnold Schwarzenegger Got Predator Co-Star Carl Weathers Hooked on “Stogies”

Smoking cigars is a defining trait of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator character, Dutch. Yet, did you know that the bodybuilding legend was himself behind this trait? Despite being a seven-time Mr. Olympia and a lifelong fitness enthusiast, Arnie has stuck with this one bad habit. However, back in the 80s, Arnold Schwarzenegger smoked a lot more than he does at 76, and on the sets of Predator, he got nearly everyone to smoke “stogies.”

In a resurfaced clip Predator: The Unseen Arnold (2001), one of the crew members recalled that Arnold put most of the cigar-smoking scenes in the script. The behind-the-scenes documentary captured the making of the groundbreaking sci-fi action film. In the clip, the late Carl Weathers recalled how the Austrian Oak cleverly got him hooked on smoking cigars.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tricked the former NFL linebacker

Before Carl Weathers became famous as Apollo Creed from the Rocky films, he was an actual athlete. After a successful college football career, the actor signed with the Oakland Raiders as a linebacker. Hence, “Never in a million years would I let tobacco touch my lips,” said the Schwarzenegger’s Predator co-star. However, the champion bodybuilder brought about a change in this notion. 

While other cast members like Jesse Ventura had no qualms about chewing tobacco for the film, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to convince Weathers. Instead of directly offering it to his co-star, the Austrian Oak went around the set smoking “giant stogies.” Weathers would sit beside the Terminator and between scenes and even objected the first time Arnie lit a cigar on set.

Eventually, the Happy Gilmore star started liking the “great aroma.” That’s when the bodybuilding legend politely asked, “Carl, you want one?” Weathers recalled thinking to himself that one drag wouldn’t hurt. However, once he took the leap, there was no going back. “I was hooked. It was all over…” said the action star.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger quietly turned into an enabler. “Within a few days, Arnold had a box of stogies delivered to me… Shame on you Arnold,” Carl Weathers was seen saying in the resurfaced clip. Unsurprisingly, the late actor wasn’t the only person Schwarzenegger tried to turn into a stogie aficionado.

Chris Pratt suffered after sharing a cigar with his father-in-law

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son-in-law, Chris Pratt suffers from asthma. Hence, the Guardians of the Galaxy star usually steers away from smoking. However, Pratt couldn’t pass on the opportunity when the 80s action icon offered to “kind of” teach him to smoke stogies. “There’s nothing manlier than Arnold Schwarzenegger smoking a cigar,” Pratt told Jimmy Fallon on his show.

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However, the Terminal List actor found out the cost of getting too enthusiastic the hard way. While celebrating the birth of his daughter, Chris Pratt shared a cigar with his father-in-law. As Carl Weathers had said, Arnie smoked giant stogies. The next morning, Pratt woke up with a severe lung infection. Despite this, the actor told Fallon that the experience was “worth it.”

Despite leading a super healthy lifestyle, pumping iron at 76, and eating right, Arnie’s love for cigars never died. Hence, from Carl Weathers to Chris Pratt, Arnie has offered a stogie to nearly everyone.