THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407150791
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mal Vincent, Entertainment Writer
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, a big boy by any standards, strode into the room wearing a gap-toothed grin that seemed wider than his shoulders. The former Mr. Olympia was basking in the ``day after'' glow sparked by ``True Lies.''
``Did ya' hear dem last night? Were you dere?'' he asked, referring to the cheering and stomping from the gathered throng. They cheered when he hung from a flying helicopter. They cheered louder when he swam in water covered in flames and rode a horse through a luxury hotel. It was more like attending a ball game than a movie.
The audiences better like it: ``True Lies'' is rumored to have cost $125 million to produce. It's the most expensive movie ever made, topping the previous champ, the six-hour-long Russian production of ``War and Peace,'' by some $20 million. Executives at 20th Century Fox have a right to be nervous. The movie, which gets advance screenings tonight before settling into its regular run Friday, is expected to break records and give ``The Lion King'' a race for its roar as top hit of the summer.
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. ``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,'' his one flop, Cameron reportedly told one underwater actor, ``I'm letting you breathe, what do you want?'' He is known to bark, shout and throw temper tantrums when things don't go well.
``I hire the best and I expect them to perform as the best,'' Cameron said. As for rumors that he fires people randomly, he comments ``I would never do anything as merciful as firing someone. For messing up, they have to stay to the end.''
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.''
He's met most of his challenges. Born in Graz, Austria, he began to train as a bodybuilder at age 15 and by 20 won his first Mr. Universe title. Coming to the United States, he got a degree in business and economics from the University of Wisconsin and immediately dove into real estate development and formed his own production company.
``As a kid, I saw pictures of New York and freeways with six lanes,'' he said. ``I was intrigued by everything about the States. I thought `What am I doing on this farm in Austria?' I always thought America was the center of things that were happening in the world.''
When his brother died, he brought his 3-year-old nephew to the United States and has raised him. ``He's now in his third year of law school at UCLA,'' Schwarzenegger said proudly. ``I open doors for him and get him interviews for summer jobs, but he does it on his own.''
Schwarzenegger claims, though, that he won't demand the same kind of aggressive, competitive behavior from his own three children. (Katherine is 4, Christina, 3 and Patrick, 9 months.) ``The basic rule is to be good - to be `good' as people. My son doesn't have to feel that he has to do something because Daddy did it. It depends on the personality. To me, I find joy in being competitive. My children may not, and don't have to be. Some people like to dwell in the past. I get energy from the future.''
After a moment of thought, he admits, ``Maybe I don't live enough in the present. I have to put aside time to go home and play with the baby, watch videos, and read to the children. I do that.''
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, after 15 years of marriage,'' 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 (shades of LBJ) 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. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in ``True Lies''; Jamie Lee Curtis plays
his wife. The film was directed by Jim Cameron (top insert).
by CNB