When it comes to action, Arnold Schwarzenegger is well positioned. Regardless of whether he travels through time as a Terminator or hunts the Predator in the jungle: On iconic roles he really isn’t lacking. Despite all the well-known characters that Schwarzenegger has brought to life, there are also some that he has let slip by.
From John McClane to RoboCop: Schwarzenegger has over the course of his career rejected many roles, which everyone knows these days. But which rejection does he regret the most? Eleven years ago, Schwarzenegger was asked this exact question. In a Reddit AMA, the actor responded with The Rock.
Action star Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned down the lead role in Michael Bay’s The Rock
The Rock is one of the defining action films of the 1990s. Michael Bay directed the adrenaline-pumping adventure on the streets of San Francisco, while Sean Connery took on the lead role. Why Schwarzenegger turned down the part? An 80-page script and too much doodling made him doubt the project.
In 2011, Schwarzenegger stated:
That’s my biggest regret, not doing The Rock. I love the film and it turned out well. When it was offered to me, there was just an 80-page script with lots of handwriting and scribbling, and it didn’t seem to be finished yet. But they ultimately did a fantastic job.
You can watch the trailer for The Rock here:
The Rock – Rock of Decision – Trailer (German)
Even without The Rock, Schwarzenegger has no shortage of good action films that he made in the 1990s. With Total Recall, Terminator 2 and True Lies he had it right at the start of the decade three of his most popular films filmed at all, not to mention the extremely entertaining meta-action hit Last Action Hero.
What is Arnold Schwarzenegger currently doing?
Although we primarily associate Schwarzenegger with the cinema, he recently appeared on Netflix with two projects. On the one hand he led the Action series FUBAR, which premiered in May 2023 and has already been renewed for a second season. On the other hand, the streaming service released a three-part documentary titled Arnoldwhich deals with the career of the action star.
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