In 1984, James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Linda Hamilton hit box office gold with ‘The Terminator.’ Fans of the film also wanted a sequel to the 1984 film. So after six years, the trio finally reunited to make its sequel, ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day.’ However, before its filming began, Cameron invited Arnie, Hamilton, and the rest of the cast for dinner. While it gave the actors a chance to reconnect, Hamilton had a surprise for the seven-time Mr. Olympia.

While the bodybuilding icon didn’t compete since 1980, he was still the most jacked actor in Hollywood in 1991. However, the man possessing 22.5-inch biceps wasn’t prepared for his female co-star’s physical transformation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t believe his eyes

On the night of their “nice dinner,” Arnold Schwarzenegger described meeting his co-star Linda Hamilton. In the 1984 film, Hamilton portrayed a scared and confused protagonist who gets dragged into a war traversing time. However, for the 1991 sequel, Sarah Connor knows exactly what’s going on, and is prepared to defend her son.

Hence, Hamilton trained for months to pull off the character fighting for humanity’s future. “Linda comes in and she takes a sweater off,” says the bodybuilding icon in his recently released docu-series, Arnold. “And I’m looking at the arms, veins on the biceps, and then the tricep,” added Arnie. While the former Mr. Universe was aware Hamilton would play a tough Sarah Connor, he had no clue how hard Hamilton had trained.

“Everything was like a bodybuilder except miniature,” explained the Terminator star. Linda Hamilton, who also appears in the Netflix series, recalled feeling “fierce pride,” while showing off her physique to Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I can’t believe that son of a b***h is f***ing more cut than me,” Arnie said in Episode 2 while recalling his initial reaction. However, his co-star’s bodybuilder-like physique wasn’t the only thing that surprised him. When Cameron handed the action star the script, one aspect upset him.

A massive change from the first film

Before filming began and the dinner happened, Cameron met with the Predator star to discuss the Terminator 2 script. James Cameron revealed Arnie always seemed cheerful when sitting down for such meetings. However, when they met, the bodybuilding legend didn’t seem to be his cheerful self. So Cameron asked if Arnie didn’t like what he read in the script.

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However, Schwarzenegger’s problem wasn’t with the story. “Jim, I don’t kill anybody,” the action star told the filmmaker. So James Cameron explained that T2’s T-800 was the “good guy, the defender, you’re the protector,” said Cameron because that’s what Arnie had wanted in 1984. However, Arnie cheered up only after Cameron said, in Terminator 2, he could shoot people in the leg.

Despite being caught off guard by Hamilton’s physical transformation, Schwarzenegger praised his co-star‘s dedication to the role. In an interview, he even called Hamilton’s Sarah Connor a “female superhero.”

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