Arnold Schwarzenegger says directors and producers told him he would never become a star because of his big muscles

Arnold Schwarzenegger he accomplished many things in his life, and one of them is that he became one of the biggest and most iconic action movie stars to ever live. It’s truly amazing! This has not been an easy road for him and he has had to face some challenges along the way, challenges which he has obviously overcome.

During an interview with Rob Lowe on his podcast Literally!, Schwarzenegger spoke about one of the obstacles he faced. When he started working in movies, Hollywood directors, producers and agents told him that he would never be able to make it in the industry because of his big muscles. At the time they believed that audiences didn’t want to see big muscles on the big screen. Hollywood executives have always been closed-minded about changes in Hollywood, so this doesn’t surprise me. The actor shared:

In the ’70s, when I said I wanted to get into movies, all the producers, directors, studio executives and agents told me, “It’ll never happen.” And one of the three reasons was that my body was too big. They told me, ‘Look at the stars today… Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, De Niro, Woody Allen. These are sexual symbols. People don’t want to see big muscles. You are 45 kilos too many. Forget it.’

“The truth is that when they said: ‘It won’t work if you enter the cinema and above all if you aren’t a protagonist’. They said it was “because of your accent.” They said the German accent scares most Americans: it reminds them of the Nazis. ‘So yeah, you could play a Nazi officer or something. That would be ok. But other than that, you wouldn’t get away with it.” …And then they said, ‘No one would be able to pronounce Schwarz… What’s your name? Schnitzel or something?” So they were laughing at my name. And those are the three things why it wouldn’t work.”

I can’t help but laugh at the statement that Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, De Niro and Woody Allen are sex symbols! Ultimately, when Schwarzenegger landed the lead role in Conan the Barbarian, that film defined him and his impressive physique is what brought him success in the industry. No one had ever seen an actor like him before and all those directors, producers, studio executives and agents ended up kicking themselves in the ass for lack of vision.

Schwarzenegger continued to work on himself and hone his skills and proved everyone wrong. His voice and his name have become the most recognizable in the history of cinema. So everything worked out for him in the end, what about those people who pushed him away? You will never know their names or what they did.