Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking back on one of his most challenging roles. The actor recently marked the ninth anniversary of his drama 'Aftermath' with an Instagram post. The 2017 film was based on a tragic and compelling true story.

“When a man loses everything, he is capable of anything,” a narrative that perfectly captures what the bodybuilding legend delivers in 'Aftermath', which has crossed its 9th anniversary on April 7, 2026.

The movie, directed by Elliott Lester and released in the UK, Canada, and the United States on April 7, 2017, recently drew attention when the 7-time Mr. Olympia himself shared one of the movie's most dramatic scenes on his Instagram.

The April 7 post says, “9 years today @schwarzenegger delivered his most dramatic role in 2017’s Aftermath. Roman, played by Arnold, is a man seeking revenge after an air traffic controller’s error causes the deaths of his wife and daughter.”

In the movie based on the Überlingen mid-air collision between Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over Southern Germany, Schwarzenegger played the role of Russian architect Vitaly Kaloyev.

There was no external force or attack on the flight. But there was simply a human error made by the air traffic controller, played by Scoot McNairy, that caused the massive incident.

Schwarzenegger, who at the time had returned to a series of movies after serving the people as the governor of California, tracked down the air controller through a private investigator and did justice (as he saw it) to a late family member.

Most interestingly, this was based on a true story from 2002. The April 7 post by the Austrian Oak mirrors what happened in real life. The father and husband, who lost his family, went to the air controller’s house and showed him pictures of his family.

One difference is that in real life, Vitaly Kaloyev served 3 years of his 8-year sentence. After being released from jail, he was welcomed by a cheering crowd. And later he became the deputy minister of construction.

This movie shows a different side of Schwarzenegger's rough-and-tough bodybuilder or Terminator persona. He showed fans that a true actor performs every role with the same dedication he brought to the Olympia stage.

However, no one can deny that Aftermath was an intense story, and mastering a role like that requires proper preparation. Schwarzenegger himself once shared that preparation process in an interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Preparation Approach for the Role in Aftermath

In 2017, The Screen Crush conducted a phone interview with Schwarzenegger about the movie. During the interview, Matt Singer asked about the role's preparation.

In response, Schwarzenegger said, “I come from a bodybuilding background. So everything is about reps. So I go through the script many times. By the time I get to the set, I never have to touch another script the entire time I shoot.

I have the lines there, the scenes in my head, I have the other people’s lines. That’s really helpful because that gets you into the character much better — if you really understand the character.”

He also admitted that his awareness of the real case also helped him.

The bodybuilding legend said, “It was a really sad story, the way it unfolded. It was all in that script that was presented to me, it was based on that story.”

However, from an emotional point of view, he found those scenes difficult to do. To portray this role, one needs to be in that state of mind, “as if you’d really lost your family.”

And the movie says he fully immersed himself in the scenes. So, have you watched Aftermath?

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil