[MUSIC PLAYING]
MALE SPEAKER: Our guest today
grew up in a small farming
village in Austria.
And he turned himself into
a bodybuilder who was the
youngest Mr. Universe ever.
But he wanted more than that, so
he made himself one of the
biggest movie stars of
the '80s and '90s.
He still wanted more than that,
so he decided to become
governor of California.
And apparently none of that was
enough, because he's just
now written a book about it
all called "Total Recall."
Ladies and gentleman, Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
[APPLAUSE]
MALE SPEAKER: So you talk a
lot in the book about this
lake near where you were born.
It sounds very idyllic.
You spent your summers there,
you started body building
there, and it's also where you
proposed to Maria Shriver?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:
That's right.
We went back in 1985 and I
proposed to her on the lake.
We went out on with the
rowing boat and I
proposed to her there.
And I told her that
if she says no,
it's a very deep lake.
And so she was delighted
to say yes.
It was a lake where in the
winter they had wonderful
motorcycle races on the
ice on the lake.
They had ice curling
champions.
We had ice skating around the
whole lake, and it was wide
open to go ice skating.
So it was really a beautiful,
wonderful place to grow up at
a place like this that
is literally five
minutes from my house.
MALE SPEAKER: And you mentioned
getting into body
building, which turned out to be
your ticket out of Austria
and into world fame.
What's really interesting about
the book is that I think
a lot of people fantasize about
being famous and having
an impact on the world.
For you, it seemed less like
dreaming and more like a
premonition.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:
Well, it was a dream.
But it was also--
I felt like it was the only
way to get out of Austria
because I had this need
of coming to America.
I mean, when I started learning
about America at the
age of 10 because of geography
lessons and
learned about America--
And so the first photographs I
remember in this textbook, but
also in Super 8 millimeter film
footage that they showed
in the classroom--
you know, about the Golden Gate
Bridge and the Empire
State Building and the
six-lane highways.
I said, what am I doing
here in Austria with
these little roads?
I want to go and I want to
be part of the big deal.
And so I had always this desire
that felt like the only
way ever I would get to America,
because in those days
it wasn't common that you buy
yourself a ticket, no one
could afford that.
So I had to accomplish
something big
that takes me to America.
And then when I read about this
guy Reg Park who won Mr.
Universe three times and then
became a star in "Hercules"
movies, and then was in Italy
filming, and then in Hollywood
filming, I felt that could
be the ticket.
I should become Mr. Universe,
I should become
a second Reg Park.
Of course, no one really
bought into that.
My parents thought I was
totally . insane.
And I remember that I hung up
pictures above my bed for
inspiration--
pictures of Reg Park in his
posing trunks and all that.
And my mother was so concerned,
she called the
local doctor and she had
him analyze the wall.
Because she thought that there's
something terribly
wrong that I have naked men
above my bed and all of my
buddies had women hanging above
their bed and so she was
concerned about that.
But I think that my parents
really thought that there was
something terribly wrong
of being that driven.
Because I would come home at
lunchtime and instead of
having lunch, I would
do 200 sit-ups.
And at night, I will go
to the stadium and I
will be lifting weights.
I will come home at 10:00 at
night and I be continually
lifting weights.
So it was like one of these
insanity in the military, I
will continue lifting weights.
No matter how the training was
and how tough the basic
training was, I would always
then lift weights afterwards.
And as a tank driver would have
on the side of the tank
in the toolbox, I would have
my weights, my barbells, my
dumbbells, and my exercise
bench, and everything there.
In order to be, at any given
time, if we stopped driving
the tank and maneuvers.
At 2:00 in the morning, I will
be able to pull out my weights
and again lift for two
hours my weights.
I was really a fanatic about
the whole thing.
But it's the only
way you really
get the way I succeeded.
Because I became at the age of
20 the youngest Mr. Universe
in London in the history
of bodybuilding.
Because the youngest before then
was Reg Park, the guy I
was talking about,
at the age of 24.
But I became the youngest at 20,
but it was because I was
so serious about the
whole thing.
And it worked, by the age of 21,
after I won my second Mr.
Universe title, I got an
invitation from Joe Weider who
was the publisher of all the
muscle magazines in America
and also the person that had
the biggest warehouses of
weight training equipment, and
had food supplement companies
and all this.
And he brought me to America,
and so there I was.
Six years after my dream
started, I was in America.
And I was training right here,
not far away from here on
Pacific Avenue at Gold's Gym.
Now Gold's Gym is on the
other side, over here
in this huge gym.
But then it was only like a
5,000 square foot place, and
all the top bodybuilders
from around the
world trained there.
So I was able to come over
and train right there
with the top champions.
This was the mecca of
bodybuilding then already.
And I said in Hollywood that I
wanted to be a leading man,
everyone laughed.
Because they said wait a minute,
with your body, are
you out of your mind?
Look at the way you look--
250 pounds, you look
like a monster.
I mean, what kind of actress
will want to work with you?
And "Hercules" movies were
in 20 years ago.
But now it's people like Dustin
Huffman, Al Pacino,
little guys.
I mean, Woody Allen--
those are the new sex
symbols, not you.
I mean, look at your body.
And so they said you would
never make it.
And then your name,
Schwartzenschnitzel or
whatever the name is, it
would never happen.
And with your accent, it's so
thick you could use a sword
and cut through that accent.
So it was a negative attitude
right off the top, even though
America's normally
a positive place.
But they looked at
me they said, no,
it will never happen.
So I kind of worked my way up
with pure will and force.
Again, I saw very clearly the
vision that I could be another
Clint Eastwood, or Charles
Bronson, or Warren Beatty, or
any of those guys.
And they always said the ladder
is empty up there.
There's three guys that
can be on top.
And I said, well, if it's empty,
then there's room for
another one and so
I was determined.
And by 1975, I remember that
Bob Rafelson who did "Five
Easy Pieces" and "Easy
Rider" and those
movies with Jack Nicholson.
He came to me and says, I want
to do the movie "Stay Hungry."
And I want you and Sally Fields
and Jeff Bridges star
in the movie.
I said to myself, man, with this
director, I have it made.
And right after that we did
"Pumping Iron." And right
after that we did "Streets of
San Francisco," guest starred.
And then "The Villain" with Kirk
Douglas and Ann-Margret.
And then Ed Pressman came to me
and said, I just bought the
"Conan" rights from the Robert E
Howard Estate, and I'm going
to do "Conan." And I'm going to
lock you in for five movies
to do "Conan the Barbarian," and
"Conan the Destroyer," and
"King Conan" and all
those movies.
And I signed the
deal with him.
So I had it made.
I mean, there I was in 1980
doing "Conan the Barbarian"
with Universal Studios.
Dino De Laurentiis producing, Ed
Pressman producing, Oliver
Stone has written the script,
and John Milius rewrote the
script and then directed it.
So my plan worked again.
It was really amazing that there
was $250,000 I got for
the first move, the next
one $1 million.
And from then on it went very
quickly, $5 million a movie,
$10 million a movie,
$15 million.
And in the end I got $30
million a movie.
And I was laughing-- you know,
there's a saying, he who
laughs the last, laughs
the best?
Well, I was laughing the last.
Because every one of the
schmucks that said you'll
never make it, they were looking
as if, wait a minute,
what happened here?
We thought that we knew the
business, but they didn't.
So there is always room for
something a little bit odd and
extraordinary.
MALE SPEAKER: There's another
great story in the book where
you had an early meeting with
Dino De Laurentiis and it
didn't go so well.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Well,
that was different because
Dino De Laurentiis had an office
and he wanted me to be
in "Doc Savage." And he wanted
me to play the villain in "Doc
Savage." And I walked in, and I
always kind of have a mouth
that sometimes goes a
little bit too fast
and I step on myself.
I walked into the office
and I saw Dino
standing behind his desk.
And it was this huge desk,
ornate, gold and kind of like
French looking or Italian
looking, I don't know what.
But it was gigantic, it was one
of those partner desks.
And Dino, the only thing that
stood out was his chest and
his head because he's
a little guy.
Dino's a really short guy.
So I walked into his office and
I looked and I said hi,
Dino, why does a little guy like
you need such a big desk?
And to Dino De Laurentiis you
never say, you're little.
Because he saw himself
as a giant.
So he looked at me and he says,
ah, Schwarzenegger, you
have an accent, I cannot
use you, ah.
And I said, again, stupidly,
who is talking
about having an accent?
I mean, listen to you.
Ah, are you a Nazi?
Ah!
He walked away because I
had a German accent.
So that was the end of that.
So I left the office and
my agent came up to me.
He grabbed me really forcefully
by my arm and he
said to me, I've been an
agent for 15 years.
This meeting was exactly one
minute and 14 seconds.
It was the shortest meeting
we've ever had.
You just fucked everything up.
God damn it, it took me
months to get in here.
So he was mad at me also.
So anyways, that's how
the relationship
started with Dino.
But then when he bought Conan,
he came to Spain
where we were shooting.
And the third day of filming
after he saw the dailies, the
footage that we had filmed, he
came up to me and he said,
hey, Schwarzenegger,
you are Conan, ah.
And he walked off.
And Milius came to me, the
director, and he says, this is
the greatest compliment
that you can ever get.
He said, you're Conan,
isn't that great?
And I said, I guess so.
And from that point on, we
created this really great
relationship.
And we did movies together and
"The Raw Deal" and then "Red
Sonja" and "Conan the Destroyer"
and "Conan the
Barbarian."
And he became kind of like
a father figure.
He became kind of the Reg Park
that I had in the bodybuilding
world and Joe Weider, he became
that character in the
movie world that I could
go to for anything.
Who would give me advice.
Who always had wonderful
compliments and kind of took
me in as part of his family.
And so that's why I always
will miss him very dearly
after he passed away.
MALE SPEAKER: One of the
interesting things in the book
is just the way people were
dismissing you when you wanted
to be a movie star, then
you decide you
want to get into politics.
And there's a great story about
meeting with Karl Rove,
and Karl Rove kind of
dismissing you.
So tell us about that.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: I have to
say, I always loved it when
people looked at me and felt
like he will never be able to
pull it off.
And kind of short-changed
me in a way.
Because then the expectations
are low and then you surprise
people when you do
pull it off.
So Karl Rove, who I'm sure
everyone knows, is the expert
and was kind of single-handedly
responsible
for getting George
Bush elected.
Masterminding and mapping out
the whole strategy for the
United States.
Every single state, what state
they had to win, what state
they could afford losing
and on and on and on.
He was like the mastermind
behind it.
And he was then, George Bush
now was elected, this was
2003, and we were back in
Washington to do a White House
summit on after school
programs.
Which the president believed in
very strongly, and everyone
on his staff, including
Karl Rove.
And then afterwards, I went
over because after school
programs always has been my
passion and we have our own
programs nationwide, they're
our foundation and
organization.
And afterwards, I went over to
the White House to just say,
out of courtesy, hi to Karl
Rove, how are you doing?
Blah, blah, blah.
And I said to him, so what do
you think about the recall in
California?
I said they're talking
about the recall--
this was now May, it
didn't happen yet.
And they were gathering
signatures at that time to
have a recall.
And he said ah, California
is insane.
Those people are crazy
out there.
I mean, I don't know what to
make of that state, to be
honest with you.
He says, that recall will never
happen, but are you
asking because you're
interested in the
governorship?
So of course I was but I didn't
want to tell him that.
I always wanted to keep that a
secret and just come out like
a blitzkrieg and attack.
And so I said, no, no, no, no.
I said, look, I have nothing--
it's just my own curiosity.
And he said to me, well, just
if you're interested in the
governorship, why don't
you comes downstairs.
And I saw him working on this
texting and all this.
So we went downstairs from his
office which was upstairs in
the White House.
We went downstairs and there was
the hall that goes to the
Oval Office.
And out of the Oval Office came
Condoleezza Rice and she
was the Secretary of State.
She came out and she came
towards us smiling, and Karl
Rove said, hey Condi,
how are you?
And Condoleezza Rice said,
hey Karl, how are you?
And the hugs and kisses
and the whole thing.
I was standing there and then
he says, oh, Arnold, if you
want to run for governor, this
woman Condi, she's going to
run in 2006.
Forget the recall in
2003, there will be
no recall by then.
2006, she's our bet.
We support her 100%.
She will be the next governor
of the state of California.
And she was clearly embarrassed,
because she did
not know that she was set up to
play this role right now.
And she kind of smiled
and, no, no, Karl--
[CHUCKLE].
The whole thing.
And he says, no, no, come
on, Condi, you tell him.
I mean, you'll be right there
and there will be the debates,
I can see already you
two debating, it's
going to be a show.
Anyway, Arnold, look,
have a good time.
I just wanted you to meet
each other, OK?
And that was it.
And then, of course, a few
months later, I was just
promoting my movie "Terminator
3" worldwide.
And all of a sudden I read
that the people handed in
enough signatures and the recall
is going to happen.
So when I came back from my
"Conan 3" promotion, the
recall was going to happen and
there was like one week to
sign up and to register if
you want to go and run.
And out of nowhere, 135 people
registered to run for governor
of the state of California--
I mean, total lunatics.
So I was the most normal person
of that bunch, just to
show you how crazy it was.
And of course, two months
later, I sign up to run.
And two months later, I was
governor of the state of
California.
And Karl Rove, he must
have gone nuts.
Because when the president came
out literally a few weeks
afterwards during the transition
period, he met with
me down at Inland Empire
at the Mission Inn.
And he said to me, he says,
hey Arnold, can
I talk to you alone?
And I said sure, you're
the president.
So I went into his room at
the Mission Inn, and
Karl Rove was there.
And he said to Karl, he says,
Karl, do you mind?
And Karl says, no, no.
He left the room,
closed the door.
And he said to me, he says,
I know you hate him.
I know, because he didn't
support you as governor, I
know you don't like him.
And I said, Mr. President,
I just want to
make one thing clear.
I said, California needs
a lot of help.
I said, we need to
work together.
So I said, my thing with Karl
Rove has nothing to do with
that at all.
I said, that's forgotten a
long time ago, because
remember who won governorship.
It was not Condoleezza
Rice, it was me.
So I said, to me this whole
thing was perfectly fine.
I said, we're going to work
together and we're going to
make California shine again.
He says, oh, thank
you so much.
He opened the door, he says,
Karl, you can come
in, he likes you.
So it was great.
And Karl Rove came back in,
and the hugging and the
kissing and all that stuff.
So it was great.
MALE SPEAKER: In both your body
building career, your
movie career and your political
career is this
notion of reps.
And there's a great picture
toward the end of the book of
a speech that you gave.
And it's just got all these
little lines across the top,
and you explained that each line
is one time you did a rep
of the speech, one time you
practiced the speech.
So talk a little bit about
how you got where
you are through reps.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Well,
in body building and in
lifting, you know that
it's all about reps.
But you learn very quickly that
that's in everything in
life, it's all about reps.
The more you practice something,
the better you get.
If it is skiing, if it is
practice a poem, if it is
practice in your job here.
Whatever it is, it's all about
mileage and it's all about
reps and there's no shortcut.
And if you ever look for the
shortcut or for getting around
and finding some easier way,
you're fooling yourself.
Because in the end, it's always
the people that are
willing to work the hardest, and
that are willing to get in
the trenches, and to do the
reps, and to work hard.
And to look at the day, like
I've written in the book, that
the day is 24 hours.
Six hours we sleep, so you
have left 18 hours.
So don't ever give me this thing
that, oh my god, I'm
working 12 hours and I
don't have time to
exercise and to work out.
Or I don't have time to study
another language and all this
kind of thing.
You have 18 hours, and so
utilize the 18 hours well.
And that's really what I always
believed in, and I feel
like that that's the only
way you can get ahead.
If you have a very clear vision
where you want to go,
and if you're willing to put the
work in no matter what it
takes to get there and to turn
this vision into reality, we
can accomplish basically
anything you want.
Because you are in
the right place.
America is a place that does
not hold you back, it gives
you all the opportunities
in the world,
I've seen that firsthand.
None of the things that I've
accomplished I would have been
able to do if it wouldn't
be for America.
So you are in the best
place in the world.
You maybe don't like
everything.
You maybe don't like that they
are getting stuck in politics
and in Washington they can't
get anything done right now
and all those things.
You maybe don't like that, you
maybe don't like Romney, you
maybe don't like Obama,
or whatever it is.
But you are in the best
place in the world.
There's no two ways
about that.
I've been all over the world.
And so therefore, there's no
excuse for you not to make it
and to accomplish your goal.
So that's what I talk about in
the book is it's all about the
determination, the fire in
the belly, and the will.
Because in the end, the
will will conquer all.
That's the bottom line.
MALE SPEAKER: I know you've got
another appointment you
need to run off to.
But there's one last story
in the book that I
need to touch on.
Because to me, it was the most
fascinating nugget in there.
In "The Terminator" you have
a very, very famous line.
May be your most famous
line ever.
But you explained that when you
were learning English, you
didn't understand contractions,
you hated them.
So you thought the line should
be said differently than it
was written.
So how would that line
have sounded if
you'd gotten your way?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:
I will be back.
I was as wrong as
anyone can be.
I was arguing with
Jim Cameron.
Jim Cameron wrote the script,
and so that's
mistake number one.
You never tell a writer that you
want to change his lines.
And we had a battle when
we shot this scene.
I said, look, I just think it
sounds funny when I say "I'll
be back." I'll--
it's weird when I say that.
And he said to me, he says, look
Arnold, let's shoot it 10
different ways.
Let's not get hung up on should
you say it or not,
because you are going
to say it.
Because I wrote it.
And I don't tell you how to act
and you don't tell me how
to write, so let's just
move forward.
Let's just shoot it
10 different ways.
So that's how Jim and I always
talk, kind of straightforward.
And we shot it 10
different ways--
close-ups, medium shots, long
shots, zoom-in shots, and
everything you can think of.
By the time I did say it like
50 times, we did all the
different takes and shots,
it sounded right to me.
It sounded strong to me.
Because it just didn't feel like
it was strong enough and
machine-like enough.
And in the end when I saw it in
the film, I was happy that
he convinced me to
say it that way.
And when you say a line like
that, you never know if that's
the line that becomes
the most famous line
in the movie history.
And it just was voted
as number one
line in movie history.
You don't know that.
I didn't even know it was
anything special at all.
Only when I promoted the film,
and I remember I was in New
York and I had people coming
up to me on the street and
saying to me, he says, say it.
And I said, say what?
They say, the line!
The line from "Terminator."
And I said, which one?
Oh, come on.
You know, "I'll be back" line.
I said, OK, I'll be back.
No, no, no, just the way you
say it in the movie.
And then I will say, "I'll be
back." Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's the one.
So I realized then, jeez,
what did we create?
A monster there or something
like that?
It was like a big surprise
to me that it
became such a big hit.
And it became bigger
as time went on
and the rest is history.
So since then, people have been
writing lines because
they think I know how
to deliver them.
In the meantime, it was Cameron
just standing there
and saying OK, let's do it 20
different ways and you've got
to say it exactly that way
and all that stuff.
But it has worked and now
there's the lines "Hasta la
vista, baby" and "I lied" and
"Fuck you, asshole," and all
those kind of things.
They all became kind
of big lines.
Even though those lines
someone else said many
times before me.
But just the way I say
it I think they
become kind of something.
And so it's great.
It has been great to be a part
of this movie business.
And it's also been great that
I was able to make the
decision to run for governor.
And to take seven years out of
my life and to do that and to
be a public servant.
There's nothing more satisfying,
especially as an
immigrant, to do that.
And then after it's over not to
be a career politician, but
to just step back and say I
go back again what I did
originally.
And now I have a great time
doing again the acting.
I've done four movies since I
finished my governorship.
But I continue on with policy.
That's why I started
the Schwarzenegger
Institute at USC.
Where we will continue talking
about the environmental
issues, stem cell research,
the importance of that.
And stimulating the economy,
rebuilding our infrastructure,
and also job creation.
And good government practice
like we did redistricting
reform during my
administration and open primaries.
We want to continue that way.
How do we go and provide a
better system for the people
so politicians become more and
more public servants rather
than party servants?
How do we bring both of
the parties together?
And they don't have
to get along, I'm
not asking for that.
They should have their own
philosophies, they should disagree.
But how do you go and say in
the end, we got to do the
people's work, so we
got to compromise.
And then come up with a way of
compromising, just like Ronald
Reagan did, or as Bill Clinton
did in many of his policies.
There's a way of doing
it and some people
hit the sweet spot.
Today, it's not happening,
and that's why we have no
immigration policy that
is a coherent one.
We have no trade policy
that's really good.
We don't have an infrastructure
policy where we
really spend, again, 4% or 5% of
our GDP on infrastructure.
Our health care policy is in a
shamble, and we are spending
more and more money on that.
So all of those things
need to be fixed.
And unless both of the parties
work together, we
will not fix them.
And America is going to
suffer because of it.
MALE SPEAKER: There's another
great story in the book where
you decide to run for governor
and Teddy Kennedy ends up
giving you advice.
And he explains that he can't
come and endorse you, but he
ends up not campaigning against
the recall election.
What was the advice
he gave you?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I
think my mother-in-law would
have bitten his head off
if he would have
campaigned against me.
Because she really thought the
world of me and she thought it
was great that I jumped
into the race.
And even though I was a
Republican, she wrote a check
for $23,000.
And she told me never to tell
anyone because she never gave
Teddy any money.
I mean, he ran for senate and
for president, but she gave me
a big check.
But I think that Teddy
was a terrific guy.
And he was a very talented
senator.
And when they ask him and told
him that I don't want to jump
into the world that he's in,
into the political arena.
That I know everything about
entertainment and sports and
so, but not as much about
politics as he does since he
has been involved in that
his whole life.
Is there any point, if there's
one point that you could make,
what would that be?
And he said to me, Arnold, when
you go into the race,
never get into details.
And I looked at him and I said,
why do you say that?
Because I just don't know much
about the details or what?
He says, no.
He says, I am smarter about
health care than
anyone on the hill.
He says, I had a four hour
hearing where we debated and
discussed health care reform
into the minute details.
And when I came out of the
chamber after the four hours,
the press ran after me and says,
well, senator, when can
we hear the specifics?
When can we hear about
the details?
So he says you can never
satisfy them.
They always will ask you
for the details.
And the reason is because they
hope the more you go into
details, that you will
eventually trip up.
And you will make one mistake
or say something wrong, and
that's when they attack.
He said, that's the
way it works.
So don't even get in there.
Just tell them, he
says, I will let
you know early enough.
They will complain and they will
say he's not giving us
the details.
But that's OK, at least you
didn't trip up, and at least
they didn't trick you into
saying something wrong.
He says, so keep saying you
will get the specifics, we
will make the official
announcements very soon.
And you're going to be part of
it, and you'll be the first
one to know as soon as
I have the details.
And all this stuff he says.
And by that time, you win,
and you move on.
And so that's exactly
what I did.
And so I was successful,
exactly.
So anyway, thank you very much
all of you for listening.
I really appreciate it,
and I'll be back.
Thank you.
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