WTF Happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Last Updated on November 9, 2022

First things first – we love Arnold Schwarzenegger. For pretty much all of us here at the site, Arnie was our hero growing up, and while his hardcore action movie days may be behind him, we still love the guy. His is one of the great American success stories, where an immigrant from Austria could become a champion businessman and weightlifter, and perhaps the biggest movie star in the world (for a time) and then, eventually, even the governor of California!

In this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, we chart Arnie’s wild ride, from his early days in Pumping Iron to his breakthrough in Conan the Barbarian and his eventual career-defining role as the T-800 in The Terminator. We reflect on how Twins somewhat changed the public perception of him, resulting in a much nicer version of the T-800 in the landmark James Cameron sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Plus, we examine other classics like Commando, Total Recall, True Lies, and many more. We also dig into his political career and attempted return to action movies once his term as Governor of California ended. For whatever reason, Arnie seemingly could not recapture the zeitgeist after a detour into politics. However, he remains a legend, even when he’s just chilling in his California compound with his donkeys, Whiskey and Lulu. We love Arnold, and this episode of WTF Happened to This Celebrity, written (with Mathew Plale), narrated and edited by Taylor James Johnson, is our affectionate tribute.

What’s your favourite Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Let us know in the comments.

Just for fun, here’s a quick Top 5:

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
2. Total Recall
3. The Terminator
4. True Lies
5. Predator