“One Thing Leads Naturally to Another”: Usually Outgoing Arnold Schwarzenegger Felt Embarrassed While Shooting Romantic Scenes for Conan the Barbarian

The Hollywood entertainment industry deems the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger as one of its favorite action heroes. By trading stringent punches and exacting kicks with his on-screen opponents, the Austrian became a household name in the action genre movies of the 90s. However, though the 7x Mr. Olympia has performed all of his fighting sequences with absolute finesse, he faced plenty of trials and tribulations while performing romantic sequences in the early years of his acting vocation.

The 1982 action film Conan the Barbarian paved the way for the bodybuilder to rise to superstardom through his natural charisma and ripped physique. With a hoard full of action-packed performances and a lot of nail-biting adventures, the movie succeeded in grabbing critics’ attention. Nevertheless, the Austrian marveled at everything that the script demanded through his commendable flair in delivering back-to-back fighting drills with antagonists. However, when it came to performing intimate sequences, the actor had a hard time implementing the script’s behest.

Arnold Schwarzenegger struggled with romance segments of the script in the initial years of his acting career

In his memoir, Total Recall, the Austrian pulled off the curtains from the struggles he faced while performing intimate sequences on the screen. To describe his tussle, he shared an anecdote, dated back to the year 1980, when he was shooting for his first action-adventure film. During the shoot, the actor has to perform an intimate sequence with his co-actor, Sandahl Bergman. However, the script’s demands made the bodybuilder flounder, as he found himself under the scrutiny of everyone present on the set. 

He stated, “I’d never done a love scene on camera and found it really strange. A closed set means that you can’t bring guests, but you still have endless people looking on: the script supervisor, the lighting techs, the camera assists”. Describing the hesitation that he faced during the shoot, the 7x Mr. Olympia added, “No one in acting class ever talks about what to do in a nude scene when you really get excited. In s*x, one thing leads naturally to another. It can be embarrassing”.

The bodybuilder further added, “They say you should stay in character, but that’s not really what they want, trust me. All you can do is try to think about something else”. Moving forward, he also shared several tidbits about why he found the romance genre so hectic.

The reason why the Austrian struggled to get romantic during the shoot of his 1982 film

Underling the sole reasons behind his struggles, the bodybuilder asserted, “I was somehow supposed to be this weird combination of a barbarian and a gentleman, but not too much of either. It was hard to get in the mood because you don’t have a chance to practice with your costar; you just have to start mechanical and cold”. 

Read More: “You’re Dead! Stay Down!”: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian Cost More Money Due to Unruly Stuntmen; Revealed in Total Recall

Clearly, while the bodybuilder has a penchant for action-thriller movies, he never took to the romance genre. Though he crushed the box-office records through his roles in comic, sci-fi thrillers, adventure, and action classifications, he never worked exclusively in the romantic genre films. More so, the actor continues to pursue his passion for action and thriller, as he is all set to make a splash in his fandom through his upcoming spy-adventure television series FUBAR.

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