Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles on June 28, 2023.Photo:Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
“And so I jump out of bed,” he says.
“Be useful” was his mercurial father’s edict while Schwarzenegger, 76, was growing up in the remote Austrian town of Thal, and the record-shattering bodybuilder turned global action star turned “Governator” of California has co-opted it for his new motivational bookBe Useful: Seven Tools for Life.
In his latest project, he plucks lessons he’s learned from his remarkable rise to his “fourth act,” in which Schwarzenegger has striven to “make amends, to climb back from the bottom,” he writes, nodding to the affair that “brought my world crashing down on me.”
The father of five —Katherine, 33,Christina, 32,Patrick, 30, andChristopher, 26, with exMaria Shriver, andJoseph, 26, withMildred Baena— arrives at a recent breakfast in Santa Monica with his right arm encased in a compression sleeve from nerve surgery the day prior. Is he in pain? Spearing his eggs Benedict with salmon, the silver-bearded star appears almost affronted when asked.
He swiftly delivers the morning’s first certitude: “Pain is temporary, but the progress is permanent.” He hit the gym the morning before the surgery and predicts he’ll be lifting again in “maybe a week or two."
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bookBe Useful: Seven Tools for Life.
Slowing down is not in the cards: This year alone he headlined his firstlive-action series; releasedArnold, a docuseries about his life; and launched a fitness-infused newsletter and podcast calledArnold’s Pump Club— “not so much to motivate people,” he says of the latter, “but to create a positive corner on the Internet.” Here, Schwarzenegger (or Opa, as his young granddaughters call him) opens up to PEOPLE.
You’ve called this chapter your fourth act. How would you describe your life now? Do you feel a sense of contentment?
Does this book feel like a kind of closure to a tough childhood with your father, who was at times physically abusive?
I’m not into all this stuff, because I never really blamed my father for anything. I never ran around and said, “It’s my father’s fault.” It’s nobody’s fault. I have fond memories of my dad, and I don’t blame him for anything, simply because he did not know any better.
Katherine Schwarzenegger (left) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (right).Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
How did your children feel about being told to “be useful” growing up?
I always told them, “Look, you can be an actor, that’s great. But until you become an actor that can be self-sufficient, you’ve got to work and you’ve got to make money. You don’t want to wait for the money from the movies. I never waited for the money from the movies. I made my first million dollars from real estate.” And that’s in the ’70s! That’s the equivalent of, today, $20 million.Are you enjoying being a grandfather? [In addition to Lyla, Katherine has Eloise, age 1.]
It’s a fun thing, because I [didn’t] know how good I would be. But I have the animals, so it’s an easy thing. I teach [Lyla] how to feed the horses. She was scared in the beginning, but she got used to it.
Have you and Maria entered a new chapter in your relationship now that you’re grandparents?
We never left the [first] chapter. Because remember, it’s not like we had a feud. We didn’t have a fight. It’s just my f—up, right? We always made it very clear that the kids should not suffer because of that. And she has her things, her relationship, I have mine, but we always communicate about the kids, about the holidays, about birthday parties andMother’s Dayparties andChristmas. My chapter with Maria will continue on forever. Even though it’s a different relationship, there’s no reason for me to feel anythingother than love for her.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Heather Milligan in Berlin on Nov. 16, 2017.TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty
TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty
You met your girlfriend, physical therapistHeather Milligan, a decade ago following your shoulder surgery in 2012. What is your relationship like?
She’s unbelievable, because we have so many things in common. After my therapy was finished, after I was finished [shooting the 2013 filmEscape Plan], I called her and took her out for lunch to say thank you. And then one thing led to the next. Our relationship is fantastic. I think the world of her. I love that she’s into working. She’s clearly independent. She just is driven as hell.
Is there still a role you’d like to play onscreen?
No, I haven’t spent much time, or any time, thinking about what I want to play. Because I was very fortunate to play the ballsiest guys on the screen and, at the same time, the most feminine guy inJunior. So I could be, at any given time, in touch with my feminine side and act that out and then also be in touch with my really hard side and act that out. Not many people are able to do that. Remember, evenDustin Hoffman— who’s a very good friend of mine and [whom] I admire tremendously — has doneTootsie. An extraordinary job. But he could never be f—ingConan. He could never playthe Terminator.
Have any of your costars given you sage advice?
You just observe.Jeff BridgesorSally FieldinStay Hungry— [it] was absolute heaven to me to watch them perform, how smooth they were and how much I had to grow. [I learned] to be natural, not to act. It’s what made Sally Field start falling into tears and crying and throwing fits. It was really her. [Clint Eastwood] was my idol because he was kind of Mr. Cool. His approach of not being noisy, that he was able to listen, I always loved that. Because I always thought that there’s something to be said about listening.
How is your relationship withSylvester Stallonethese days?
Fantastic. Ireally admire him. I love him. He’s just a different person than me. He’s much more raw, and he’s much more vulnerable and in touch with his emotions. When he gets mad, he just gets mad. It’s like when you light a fuse — his goes right away. “Boom!” Mine goes, “Shhh.” It takes two days to get to the actual boom. It makes him good in acting, because he feels things immediately.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in Westwood, California, on Nov. 19, 2015.Todd Williamson/Getty
What’s your ideal way to decompress?
I don’t plan a day off. To go on vacation to Europe or to go on a boat like most of my friends do. … Sly calls me: “Want to come on the yacht?” What, do you think I’m going to ask, “When can I have dinner?” It’s not going to happen. I can get my own yacht. That’s not my trip. I can’t even relax under those circumstances.
But you do enjoy painting.
That’s what I do for the girls [in my family]. F—ing flowers, right? But it’s true. I love painting flowers. What can I tell you? It’s the reality of me.
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Lifeis out Oct. 10, and available for preorder now onamazon.com.
For more from Arnold Schwarzenegger, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands now.
source: people.com
