LOOK WHO'S BACK!
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ON THE TERMINATOR, KEEPING FIT IN HIS 70s, FATHERHOODAND NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT
He once promised us he’d be back, and now he is—as the Terminator. “The character got me into action movies,” says Schwarzenegger, 72. “In the history of Hollywood, no one ever came here with an accent and became a leading man [like that].” When director James Cameron offered him the chance to star as a cyborg assassin back in 1984, he was in. Then producer Joel Silver cast him in Commando, and after that he snagged the lead in Predator. Blockbuster favorites like Total Recall fol And lowed. now, as he promised with his catchphrase from The
Terminator 35 years ago, he’s back—in Terminator: Dark Fate (in theaters Nov. 1), the sixth film in the franchise.
Hopping back into the character requires a little prep. His process includes amping up his gym time to prepare for high-octane stunts and a grueling schedule. “It’s demanding. You shoot from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning, and no one is telling you, ‘OK, if you need to, go take a nap now,’ like they normally do with elderly people,” he says with a laugh.
FOCUSED ON FITNESS
Whether he’s preparing to play the Terminator or not, Schwarzenegger is focused on staying fit. The former bodybuilding champ’s current regimen involves bicycling from his L.A. home to a nearby Gold’s Gym, where he does 45 minutes of daily strength training. “I go upstairs to my gym and work out some more at night before I have dinner,” he says. These days, the Terminator’s muscles are fueled by a mainly plant-based diet. “I’m 70 to 80 percent off animal products,” he says.
This modification took hold after his 2018 heart surgery, when Schwarzenegger’s doctor urged him to ditch meat and dairy and “go green, green, green. I said, ‘Wait a minute, that sounds like my environmental speech!’ ” he jokes, harking back to his days as California’s progressive-minded
“I THRIVE OFF THE VERY THING THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF. ”
governor (2003–11). Six months into his new eating routine, his cholesterol dropped significantly.
But he does make an occasional diet detour. “If I’m in Austria, I still have a Wiener schnitzel, I sometimes buy ice cream and I still make my steaks,” he says. “My kids come over and say, ‘Daddy, can you make our favorite steaks? You are the best steak maker.’” Married from 1986 to 2011 to Maria Shriver, now 63, the niece of John F. Kennedy, they have four children together: Katherine, 29, Christina, 28, Patrick, 26, and Christopher, 22. He’s also the father of Joseph Baena, 22, by his former housekeeper Mildred Patricia Baena, which was revealed publicly in 2011, after Shriver filed for divorce. (These days, he’s dating Heather Milligan, a physical therapist whom he met during a past shoulder-surgery rehabilitation.)
Throughout his life, he’s always celebrated athletics. Since 1989, he’s been running his annual multisport Arnold Sports Festival, which has expanded to include everything from martial arts and boxing to pole fitness and arm wrestling. As of 2018, there are festivals on five continents. The fitness guru works to make sure his events also accommodate handicapped and disabled athletes. “They get a standing ovation bigger than the bodybuilders or powerlifters,” he says.
DRIVEN TO COMPETE
“There was a time when I wanted to be the most muscular man onstage and to wipe out everyone else. There was literally nothing more important than that. But when I won the last Mr. Olympia [in 1980], I said, ‘What am I doing still running out with a little bathing suit here, oiled up?’ ”
This led Schwarzenegger to commit fully to acting, continuing with action-packed films like Conan the Barbarian as well as trying his hand in comedies like Twins and Junior. “I always thought there was a funny side to me,” he says, adding that he cherished having iconic comedian Milton Berle as a mentor.
Schwarzenegger also discovered the power of doing good. In 1990, he became the chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, working alongside President George H.W. Bush, and began hobnobbing with the Kennedy family through his relationship with Shriver. “All of a sudden, helping people became the new thing,” he says of setting his sights on procuring health and fitness programs in schools. “That gave me the appetite to run