Arnold Schwarzenegger garnered quite the craze among youngsters and bodybuilders in the late 60s and continued through the early 80s. But at the beginning of the 80s, he announced his retirement from competitive bodybuilding.

He retired to transition from a bodybuilder to an actor. However, the news of his retirement did not subdue his prominence in the sport. If anything, his popularity grew even further after appearing in movie franchises like ‘The Terminator’.

Why the first acting role landed by Arnold Schwarzenegger shocked the star?

These films became some of the biggest cult classics of the era since. But none of the movies associated with the star would have come to fruition without the release of his first movie.

In 2015, when Schwarzenegger attended The Howard Stern Show as a guest. During the show, Stern asked the former Mr. Olympia if landing the role of Conan in the first installment of the franchise surprised him.

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Reminiscing on his early days, the bodybuilder-turned-actor said, “I was not shocked.”

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Reflecting on his first acting role, Arnie added, “I remember I was shocked when they asked me to do Hercules in New York because at that point I had no plan yet to be in acting.”

Since he lacked prior experience in action roles, Arnold was hesitant about accepting it for his movie debut. The actor reflected the sentiment of what he had to say next during the show.

“I was working my way up in bodybuilding, and I said to myself, I have to go to acting class. I have to really work on my accent, I have to really learn the language and all this. I was not ready at all,” continued Schwarzenegger.

Hercules in New York hit the movie theaters in 1970, more than a decade before his box office hits. The film starred a 22-year-old Schwarzenegger, who had already made his mark in bodybuilding.

What was Arnie’s first movie about?

The movie was a fantasy-comedy film revolving around the adventures of the demigod, Hercules, after arriving in New York. Although the film did not do well at the box office and received an approval rating of just 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, it launched the Austrian Oak into an acting career.

But it took the actor more than a decade to land a significant role in the industry. His success in acting came during the early 1980s with prominent films like Conan the Barbarian and the first installment of the Terminator franchise.

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The success of his acting career would continue to grow over the decades, making the former governor the star we know today.