Hollywood can demand actors to do things that sound ridiculously crazy, these requests can range from plastic surgery to losing weight, learning a new language, or martial arts to gaining weight, losing muscles, nudity, or getting a real wound. Action star Arnold Schwarzenegger also had a brush with similar demands, the demands however were more of a compliment than an insult to the actor, while working on Conan the Barbarian.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked to gain fat
Conan the Barbarian was released on 14 May 1982, the film follows Conan who was sold as a child into slavery. He sets on a journey to find the one responsible for the death of his family. Conan is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. While talking about the film, the actor revealed:
“Great memories but here is the reality. Working with [director and co-writer] John Milius was fantastic because he was so hard-core. But he indeed thought I looked too much like a bodybuilder – I needed to lose some of the cuts because I had just won Mr. Olympia and I was way too ripped to be a barbarian. So he told me to eat normally and not diet at all – I let my body fat get to around 12%,”
Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for his rippling muscles, he was a bodybuilder before an actor, and this ensured he looked a certain way. The director of the film was not okay with this, he wanted Schwarzenegger to look less like a bodybuilder and more like a Barbarian.
Arnold Schwarzenegger had to change his workout regime for Conan the Barbarian
Speaking to Men’s Journal the Terminator star opened up about the changes he had to include in his workout and diets to bring about the changes the director wanted.
“I changed the way I was training and my diet to become more rounded. I wanted to look like a man who’d gotten his muscles from hard work in the world and not from very specific, organized training in the gym. I made the adjustments I needed to make.”
He continues,
“Milius was very happy and I looked exactly the way he wanted. Then, when I did the sequel to Conan, the director Richard Fleischer came to me saying he still wanted me to bulk up but be more defined. So that’s what I did, and I got much more defined than I was in the first one.”
Also Read: Arnold Schwarzenegger Made ‘True Lies’ Co-Star Lose 80 lbs after Suffering a “Mini-Stroke”
The film earned $74 Million in Box-Office collections, followed by a sequel titled Conan the Destroyer. There is now another addition to the series, The Legend of Conan, which will focus on the king who has now become what he most despised. With a resurge in the fantasy genre Legend of Conan might have a shot at succeeding at the Box-Office, unlike the sequel.
Also Read: James Cameron Regretted $261M Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie That Brought a $2B Franchise to its Knees
Source: Men’s Journal
