Arnold Schwarzenegger

American actor and former governor of California

Arnold Schwarzenegger recently underwent a surgical procedure that he said made him “more of a machine,” like his iconic character in “The Terminator.”

The 76-year-old action star revealed on his “Arnold Pump Podcast” that “last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker.

“First of all, I want you to know I’m doing great. I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda.”

He added: “Nobody would ever have thought I started the week with a surgery.” The actor thanked the medical team at the Cleveland Clinic “who made the surgery as painless as possible.”

Schwarzenegger’s first open-heart surgery was in 1997 when he had to replace two valves. The second was in 2018 when he had to get both valves replaced for a second time.

The “Predator” actor also said that he is sharing his experience with the public as he had received many messages from people suffering from the same genetic problem — a bicuspid aortic valve — adding that his health updates have “given them courage and hope to deal with their own.”

Schwarzenegger said that his longevity now depends on regular heart checkups and listening to his doctor, who recommended he to have a pacemaker. “That’s life with a genetic heart issue, but you won’t hear me complaining,” he said. Schwarzenegger said that next month he will be “100 percent ready” to start filming the second season of the Netflix show “FUBAR.”