Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407260040
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MAL VINCENT LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But then, everyone said the same thing last summer about another big-budget Arnold outing, ``Last Action Hero,'' which turned out to be something of a dud.
The ever-aggressive, ever-optimistic and always-competitive Ah-nold dismisses ``Last Action Hero'' as last summer's news.
``De pictah grossed $168 million worldwide and there are big, big stars who would kiss the ground and thank God for a gross like that,'' he said in a recent interview. ``It was not a failure, although it was perceived as a failure. As for me, of course I wanted it to go through the roof, but some movies do better than others. This one? Well, were you dere last night? Did you hear dem?''
If ``Last Action Hero'' was Schwarzenegger's fantasy trip, then ``True Lies'' is his romantic outing. For the first time, he has a leading lady who is his physical and emotional co-star - Jamie Lee Curtis. The film presents the laughable problem: What would happen if James Bond had to go home and answer to his family?
Schwarzenegger plays Harry Tasker, an international spy who has kept his secret from wife - Jamie Lee - for 15 years of marriage. She thinks he's rather dull and nerdish, until she is plunged into his spy world. Special effects clashes in Washington, D.C., and Key West have her dangling from a helicopter 250 feet above Florida waters.
It is the first time that Schwarzenegger and director Jim Cameron have teamed since ``Terminator 2'' in 1991. That film grossed more than $400 million and became the most popular action movie in history. But the tough-guy, perfectionist nature of Jim Cameron has become legend in Hollywood. ``T-2'' crew members wore T-shirts that proclaimed ``Terminator 3 - Not with Me.'' When he was filming ``The Abyss,'' Cameron reportedly told one underwater actor, ``I'm letting you breathe, what do you want?''
Schwarzenegger admits that ``Dis is a guy who believes it is better to work with computers than with human beings because computers fail less often than humans. I ask Jim, `How is my performance?' and he says, `Bad, but I guess it was about as good as a human could do it.'''
Cameron, who acts like a nice guy during an interview, points out that ``I've known Arnold for 10 years. I know how he thinks. I know him as a guy - what's funny about him. We challenge each other. I like to put obstacles in his path and see if he can do them. He likes challenges. That's what Arnold is all about.''
Schwarzenegger agrees. ``I believe,'' he said, ``only in the end result - not in how I get there. Whatever it takes to get there, I don't question. That was true in bodybuilding. With movies, the goal is the biggest box office - and to be different each time out. Each movie is a new challenge.''
Tom Arnold, who steals a number of scenes in ``True Lies,'' says that he and Schwarzenegger became close friends because ``we had to spend hour upon hour together in a car being towed around.'' What did they talk about during all that time?
``Marriage,'' Tom Arnold answered. ``Arnold is married to a very strong lady - very funny and beautiful, but strong lady. We talked about adjustments to make a marriage last.''
Schwarzenegger, of course, is married to broadcast journalist Maria Shriver, a former Kennedy. ``She knows everything about me,'' Schwarzenegger said. ``The movie is not accurate. You cannot live with someone that long and lie. I don't think it would be possible.''
Tom Arnold, of course, is having trouble with his wife, Roseanne. ``I don't know what's going on with Rosie,'' he said, ``so don't ask me. I do know that both she and I have talked too much in the past five years. I think both of us will be more private in the future.''
Schwarzenegger admits that he was always a James Bond fan ``but I never had any real desire to play James Bond. I do think that if you're going to do a Bond picture, you better be ready to spend big bucks. It requires big special effects. We had to do that here.''
To Schwarzenegger, the most difficult stunt in the movie was learning to tango. ``He stepped on my foot only once,'' Curtis said.
Curtis said she trusted director Cameron and the crew enough to do her own stunts, including a fight with villainess Tia Carrere (``Wayne's World'') that was ``a serious, tough fight - no little cat fight.'' Curtis claims she has one souvenir - a bullet burn above her right breast - caused by a stray bullet that bounced off a wall. She proudly pulls down her dress a bit to show her scar but is thwarted by the tight garment. ``Take my word for it, it's there,'' she laughingly says, tucking herself back in the dress.
``Jamie is a great pal,'' Schwarzenegger said. ``She was totally believable. I got to believe I was really her husband. We had to learn to lie and fake to each other - the way real couples do.''
Schwarzenegger has just finished ``Junior,'' a comedy with Danny DeVito in which he plays a pregnant man. Cameron will next make ``Spider Man,'' another special-effects marvel. They both admit, though, that ``True Lies'' cries out for a sequel.
``Jim and I haven't talked yet,'' Schwarzenegger said, ``but if the results speak in favor of it, it might be likely, in a few years. Jamie Lee Curtis is for it, too, so we'll see. But this one will have to break records in order to justify it.''
It's obvious that Arnold Schwarzenegger is out to do just that - break records. Second place has no interest for him.
by CNB