LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Arnold Schwarzenegger has been one of Hollywood's biggest action icons for decades. The 75-year-old has worked on several action-packed classics, like ‘Commando’, ‘The Terminator’, and ‘Raw Deal’. Though fans have always loved him for his action, Schwarzenegger was not satisfied with the roles he got.
Like the former governor of California, his contemporary Harrison Ford was also known for his action-packed roles in his younger days. But Schwarzenegger thinks ‘The Fugitive’ star did not face the issue of being typecast. He also credits filmmaker Steven Spielberg for saving Ford from just being called an action hero.
‘I am the real true action hero’
Schwarzenegger once shared with Buzzfeed, “Everyone gave me the same type of script. Action, heroic, kick-ass — one script would be 78 kills and the other would be maybe 54 kills, but it was all the same kind of thing. It was often ripping off the shirt and showing the muscles to make sure that they understand that yeah, I am the real true action hero.”
The retired professional bodybuilder, who also did the 1988 comedy film ‘Twins’, continued, “I have a funny side of me, and also this innocent side I was not able to show on a screen because of the way action movies are written — it's much more one-dimensional,” before adding, “The rhythm of a comedy is quite different; the way you talk is different than in an action movie.”
‘Ford was never promoted as an action star'
Schwarzenegger reportedly once shared that he believed his friend and actor Sylvester Stallone also felt he was typecast, just like him. But Ford did not face the same issue, thanks to Spielberg. He told LA Times in 2006, “Some people are blessed. Harrison Ford was doing great action movies but was never promoted as an action star because the director [Steven Spielberg in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’] was the star. ... So, Harrison Ford was celebrated as an action guy but never typecast as an action guy.”
But Ford had credited himself for the escape. The 80-year-old cultural icon once told BBC, “I've always been aware of the potential to be trapped in the action genre, because of the commercial success of the first films that I did. But if you look carefully, you will see that I made every effort from the very beginning of my career to vary the kinds of genres and roles - to not only do that kind of film.”
