Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a household name for over five decades. He has been quite popular for starring in The Terminator franchise and has also ruled the world of bodybuilding and has served the public as a politician. He put forth these chapters of his life in the three-part Netflix documentary series titled Arnold, which was released earlier in June 2023. While it does bring out some of the actor’s never-before-seen footage, many have argued that the documentary series seems “too good to be true.”
The director of the documentary series, Lesley Chilcott, defended it and the actor during a recent interview, saying that it does not hold any propaganda and that it shows the real personality of the 76-year-old actor.
Director Defends Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Documentary
Arnold Schwarzenegger deemed himself the Chief Action Officer of Netflix as he made a jump to OTT with his recent action series FUBAR. Following the action series, the streaming giant released a three-part documentary based on the actor’s life called Arnold.
While it has been praised by many, the documentary series also received criticism for keeping the Predator actor in a good light. The director of the documentary, Lesley Chilcott, denied such claims as she shared her frustration during a recent interview with GQ.
She claimed that there are multiple celebrity-commissioned documentaries and shows, but Arnold is in no way similar to those documentary serieses. “There are a lot of celebrity commissioned docs out there right now, and this is not one of them,” she said, defending the Hollywood star and his documentary.
Chilcott also stated that Schwarzenegger’s real personality is not very different from his star persona, so his behavior in the series should not be questioned in any way. The Netflix documentary represents the three chapters of the actor’s life, with each episode titled Athlete, Actor, and American.
Lesley Chilcott’s Thoughts on the Actor Before the Documentary
Lesley Chilcott worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger for his documentary series and shared her experience working with him in Netflix’s Arnold. Although they did not spend much time together, the director shared that she tried to learn as much as she could about the actor.
She also shared that they kept in touch and she spent hours interviewing The Expendables star. When asked what she thought of the FUBAR actor before working with him, she shared that The Terminator franchise really affected her during the 80s.
The filmmaker also shared that she was quite amazed by his work as a governor. As the governor of California, he signed The Global Warming Solution Act. “It made me feel: wow, this guy is reaching across the aisle. I cannot believe the Terminator is working on climate change,” Lesley Chilcott stated while talking about his efforts to reduce emissions.
Arnold is streaming on Netflix.
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Source: GQ
