Arnold Schwarzenegger said he'd be back. Ten years after his last starring role, the seven-time Mr. Olympia and former governor of California is making good on that iconic statement. On January 18, Arnold is slated to kick some serious silver-screen ass with the release of his new movie, The Last Stand.
Bodybuilding.com recently caught up with the living, working legend to talk about The Last Stand, training, getting old, and more. Welcome back, Oak. It's good to see you again.
The Last Stand: Interview With Arnold Schwarzenegger
Watch The Video - 08:17
From 2003-2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger served as the Governor of California. The Oak has since made a smooth transition back into action and acting. He appeared in both The Expendables and The Expendables II, but The Last Stand is Arnold's chance to crank the Gatling gun and retake the lead role.
"I think I got a great warm-up when I did The Expendables," Schwarzenegger says. "Sly gave me a chance to work for four days, but it looked like I worked for weeks on the movie. They shot so much footage, from six in the morning to late at night."
When he finished shooting The Expendables, he went directly to New Mexico to shoot The Last Stand, directed by Kim Ji-Woon.
He's a Natural
In the film, Arnold plays a retired L.A. SWAT officer who now serves as the sheriff of a small, quiet border town. An escaped drugrunner and his armed cartel try to blow through Arnold's post on the way to Mexico. Of course, with Schwarzenegger as sheriff, things aren't going to be that easy.
"I just slipped into it in a natural way and felt good about being on the set, doing the scenes, handling all the weapons, doing the action, the stunts and all that," Schwarzenegger says. "Kim Ji-Woon was very passionate, very enthusiastic."
"[The Last Stand] is a story about being the underdog, when no one expects anything," Schwarzenegger says. "The movie is about convincing everyone to rise up and be part of the team and not just talking about it."
The townsfolk are hesitant, but many are deputized, including characters played by Johnny Knoxville and Luis Guzman. The fast-paced action turns the town into the OK Corral and tests one of Detroit's great questions: Which is best, the Camaro or the Corvette?
Grow Older, Work Harder
Arnold may be a retired politician, but he still has what it takes to make blockbuster movies and perform his own stunts. "You realize that you are older now—times have changed and you have to prepare much better, much more," Arnold says.
"You have to work out harder. You have to do more cardiovascular training, more stretching, more warming up for the scenes. But, I noticed that anything is possible if you prep the right way."
The Oak clearly still has star power and the ability to draw an audience. As he enters his golden years, he will continue to drop bodies—and killer lines—across the action genre. In many ways, The Last Stand is the next step for Arnold Schwarzenegger. It heralds a new Arnold: older, wizened, but still full of fight.
So are we, Arnold. So are we.
