Judgement Day

From Mr. Universe to The Terminator to the governor of California, Arnold SchwArzenegger’s career has taken some bold turns. Now, after launching green doc Wonders Of The Sea 3D, it’s about to see the most surprising move yet: eco-warrior. Does he still have what it takes to save the world? 

- James Mottram

The subtitle of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s official website tells you all you need to know about this most iconic of Austrians: ‘Film, Fitness, Politics.’ A movie star, a bodybuilding champion, the governor… there isn’t much he hasn’t done in the past four decades. But now you might add ‘eco-warrior’ to that list. Arnie’s back – but this time when he says, “Come with me if you want to live,” he really means it. Six years on from leaving his post as governor of California, he’s turning his attention to one of the most pressing issues of the day: the environment.

When Total Film encounters Schwarzenegger, he’s at the Cannes Film Festival. The last time he was here, he was pressing the flesh back in 2003 for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, his last film before his eight-year stint in office. Now, about to turn 70 this July (“I like Montecristo No. 2,” he jokes, in case TF is thinking of buying him a box of his favourite cigars to celebrate), he could easily pass for his mid-fifties. Thick hair, thicker accent and a smile broader than his belt-buckle, he’s a perfect tanned specimen even as he nears his eighth decade.

Striding into the Majestic Hotel (where else would you meet Arnie?), he’s dressed in jeans, a pinstriped jacket and a blue polo shirt. On his finger is a giant skull ring, a present from one of his children (he has two boys and two girls with his former wife, journalist Maria Shriver, whom he separated from after 25 years of marriage in 2011). So how does he look so good? “I don’t think I have a secret,” he says. “I think it’s two things. One is that I work out every day and the second one is I really love my life.”