If Arnold Schwarzenegger was the pioneer of the blockbuster action genre in Hollywood, Jamie Lee Curtis was also making waves at the same time by becoming the original scream queen with John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1978. The two veterans who had parallel careers, finally came together in James Cameron’s action rom-com True Lies, which went on to gain cult status.
Apart from being successful co-stars, Schwarzenegger and Curtis also shared a great chemistry on-screen, and a wonderful personal rapport off-screen. In an interview, the Terminator actor heaped praise on Curtis for her performance in True Lies, while also defending her staunchly against unwanted negativity.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Displeased With Criticism Of Jamie Lee Curtis.
True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis became one of Hollywood’s most-loved films that also did extremely well at the box office. One of the main reasons for its success was the casting of the Predator star and the Halloween actor in the lead roles. Both actors shared a very good relationship off-screen as well, which prompted Schwarzenegger to speak up in support of Curtis, who was sidelined by the media. During an interview for the reunion of the True Lies cast and crew, the action star defended Curtis and said,
“But there’s always one thing that really pisses me off, and that is when they say that she is a supporting actress in the movie True Lies. Because she wasn’t supporting — she was the female lead. She was the star. She was starring with me.”
Curtis admitted that her contract originally stated she would only play a supporting role in the film and that her name would appear below the title. But Schwarzenegger fought to have her name appear next to his in the movie’s official poster.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Almost Did Not Do Terminator
In his staggering action repertoire, James Cameron’s Terminator remains one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biggest hits of all time. The film is still considered an iconic action classic and has held pride of place in Hollywood even after 3 decades. Shockingly, Schwarzenegger almost missed out on being part of the film owing to his agent, who warned him against doing the role as it would end his career. It has been said before that the Junior star himself was not too keen on playing the villain in the movie. James Cameron corroborated this and said,
“Casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as our Terminator shouldn’t have worked. But the beauty of movies is that they don’t have to be logical. They just have to have plausibility. If there’s a visceral, cinematic thing happening that the audience likes, they don’t care if it goes against what’s likely,”
Ultimately, Schwarzenegger went with his gut instinct and signed on for the role, which turned out to be the best decision he ever made. Terminator and its sequels broke many box office records, thereby validating the Austrian muscleman’s trust in the film and his character.
Source: The Things
