Arnold Schwarzenegger is arguably one of the biggest Hollywood action stars. But here’s something surprising: despite his massive success, he wasn’t always allowed to use his real voice in films.

In his acting debut, Hercules, in New York, Arnie’s performance certainly turned heads, but his thick accent held him back. His dialogue was so hard to follow that it had to be dubbed after production.

Speaking about his difficulties in the initial times, Arnold expressed, “It was very difficult for me in the beginning – I was told by agents and casting people that my body was 'too weird', that I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long.”

As his career took off, he was finally allowed to use his own voice. But for the German dub of The Terminator, the production team once again didn’t let him voice his character. It was not due to the film's expanse but because his voice was too rural for the German audience.

“It would be too ridiculous to have a death machine from the future come back in time and sound like a hillbilly,” a Reddit post read on r/TodayILearned. That's not all, he was even asked by an influential man to leave his accent.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked to leave his accent

After the poor reception of Hercules in New York, Arnold was eager to reinvent himself. When Star Wars became a hit, Schwarzenegger approached Mark Hamill for advice. The actor told him that to make it big in Hollywood, he’d need to lose both his accent and his last name.

However, Arnold was not in the mood to let go of his identity altogether to make it big on the silver screen. “And then with the accent also, you know, Jim Cameron, after "Terminator" said, look, this movie only worked because Arnold talks like a machine. When you listen to him, it's like a machine.”

“That's why it worked that he played the Terminator, and that's how we could sell the character. Otherwise, it would have never worked,” he said in The Talk of the Nation.

From The Predator to The Terminator, Arnold’s voice made his movies even more enjoyable, and it’s a testament to him that he never let go of his roots. Do you agree?

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Joyita Das