“Battery Acid Into Arnold’s Mouth”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Was in Grave Danger Due to Make Up During Batman and Robin Shooting

Batman has graced the silver screen many times over the last few decades. From 1989 to 1999, four Batman movies came out. Tim Burton made two, and Joel Schumacher made two. Schumaker’s Batman & Robin (1997) had a star-studded cast, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Uma Thurman in lead roles.

However, the movie became the most infamous Batman film of the 90s and perhaps of all time. While the film became a victim of corporate greed and franchising, the cast and crew worked hard on the film. The actors suffered for hours in cramped suits and long working hours. However, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to put on the most complex and elaborate makeup. The makeup once put the bodybuilding icon in grave danger.

Toxic makeup put Arnold Schwarzenegger in danger

Regardless of how critics and the public reacted to the film, Arnold’s Mr. Freeze caught everyone’s attention. Arnold had to go through hours of grueling makeup sessions to transform into Mr. Freeze. However, a particular element of the Mr. Freeze look became potentially dangerous for Arnold. “The final touch for close-ups was an LED light for Mr. Freeze’s mouth,” said Arnold, makeup artist, Jeff Dawn.

Jeff worked as a makeup artist on the set of Batman & Robin. “It (LED light) made delivering lines a challenge, but even worse, it proved to be a serious danger,” said Jeff. The LED light began leaking battery acid into Arnold’s mouth. “When you put it in Arnold’s mouth, Arnold’s saliva would creep into the seams of this thing and attack the batteries,” explained Jeff.

After coming in contact with saliva, “The batteries would immediately start disintegrating and start putting out battery acid into Arnold’s mouth,” said Jeff. Besides being dangerous, it also halted shooting. Dawn recalls the bodybuilding icon shouted, “It tastes like s***! What’s in my mouth?”

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However, Jeff came up with an ingenious solution. He packed the LED light into a small balloon before putting it in Arnold’s mouth. Jeff’s workaround saved the actor from ingesting toxic chemicals and save the batteries from disintegrating during the shoot.

$10,000 photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Today, the paparazzi are always on the prowl. In 1997, that wasn’t the case. However, public interest in the production of Batman & Robin was high, and people with cameras were always lurking around. Producer Peter MacGregor-Scott tightened security around the set and constructed a fabric tent to hide Arnold from view. However, some cameramen managed to click a few pictures.

“They were getting $10,000 for a picture of Arnold,” Peter told The Hollywood Reporter.

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Arnold had no hand in the failure of Batman & Robin. In fact, he put himself in danger while playing the role. Do you think the actor should have put himself in danger while shooting the film?