Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that it would now be “easier” for him to find success in the US and Hollywood than it was when he first moved to the country and that whoever is president doesn’t matter.
The 77-year-old movie icon, best known for his roles as The Terminator and Conan the Barbarian, first moved to America from Austria in 1968 when he was just 21, and soon became a phenomenon in the world of bodybuilding, winning seven Mr Olympia titles.
Schwarzenegger began acting in small TV and film roles in 1969 and by the 1980s and 1990s was one of the biggest stars in the world, dominating the box office with films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), Twins (1988) and Total Recall (1990).
However, Schwarzenegger believes that his version of the “American dream” is now easier to attain, despite the current political climate in the US.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the actor and climate activist was asked: “Do you feel the American dream is still alive given what’s happening in the country?”
Firing back, Schwarzenegger said with a grin on his face: “Are you kidding me? I see it first-hand almost all the time. I could go today to America as a 20-year-old boy and make it in exactly the same way. Maybe even easier.”
Continuing, he said: “America is the land of opportunity. No matter what. It doesn’t matter who is president. Since I went over there we had Nixon as president, we had Carter as president, we had Reagan as president. I mean the list goes on and on and on.”
He then goes on to tell a story about a Nigerian trainer working in a branch of Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles who makes $100 an hour and drives a Bentley convertible. “He’s working his a** off,” says Schwarzenegger. “He deserves that Bentley. He deserves to be the best trainer. He’s working hard.
“So, the opportunities are out there. Anyone can go to America, if you are willing to work hard and not use or abuse the system. There are all the opportunities in the world. America is still the shining city on the hill.”
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It comes after the former Republican governor of California told environmentalists critical of Donald Trump’s administration to “stop whining and get to work.”
Speaking at the Austrian World Summit in Vienna on Tuesday (3 June), an event he helps organise, Schwarzenegger said he keeps hearing people ask, “What is the point of fighting for a clean environment when the government of the United States says climate change is a hoax and coal and oil is the future?”
To that, he responded: “You can’t just sit around and make excuses because one guy in a very nice White House on Pennsylvania Avenue doesn’t agree with you.”
