What Was Arnold Schwarzenegger's First Movie?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is arguably the greatest action star of all time, having starred in close to 50 films during his career, many of which are considered classics in the film industry. Given the actor’s prolific body of work, many people may be wondering about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first movie.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first movie was 1970’s Hercules in New York. The then-unknown actor was only 22-years old when he took on the role, but Arnold had already gained fame in the world of bodybuilding. Watch a clip of Arnold in Hercules in New York below.

Read more below about how Arnold’s bodybuilding accolades helped him get his shot in Hollywood and a chance at superstardom.

Austria and the Effects of the War

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria in 1947. Arnold’s family and their village had been ravaged during the war; the family often struggled financially while Schwarzenegger was growing up and the actor lived in a very strict household.

Despite the tribulations of his home life, Schwarzenegger excelled at many sports, including soccer. At 13, Arnold’s soccer coach introduced the athlete to the world of weight lifting

Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia

As the years went on, Arnold became obsessed with bodybuilding, spending hours a day at the gym, trying to achieve the peak of physical perfection, ultimately creating his own routines and methods in the gym. The fanatical work paid off though, and Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Universe  title at the age of 20, the youngest person ever to win the competition.

Bodybuilding was not enough for Schwarzenegger though, and eventually he packed up and moved to the United States. He arrived in California in 1968, where he continued to train and amass several more Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia titles over the next decade.

Hercules in New York

During this time, Schwarzenegger’s physique caught the eye of a casting director for a low-budget film, and he was cast as the lead role of Hercules. However, Arnold’s Austrian accent turned out to be so thick that another actor had to dub all of his dialogue in the film. 

The movie’s plot revolves around the Roman god, Hercules, who arrives in 1970s New York City, much to the bewilderment of the New Yorkers he encounters. The movie did not perform well with audiences or critics, and would almost certainly have been forgotten had it not been Schwarzenegger’s first role.

Pumping Iron

With his first on camera role a failure, Arnold returned to the bodybuilding he’d shaped his life around. Little did Schwarzenegger know that his bodybuilding was about to turn him into a veritable star.

Two documentary filmmakers, George Butler and Robert Fiore, were making a feature-length documentary about the bodybuilding world. Butler and Fiore wanted to feature Schwarzenegger, but investors were not happy with the idea, telling the duo, “I think I speak for all of us when I say that if you make a movie about this Arnold person, we will laugh you off 42nd Street.”

Despite the negativity surrounding Schwarzenegger, the filmmakers forged ahead and decided to keep the focus on Arnold, while also bringing in actor and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno. The documentary became a smash hit with audiences and has become a fitness classic in the years since it premiered.

Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator Franchise

Though he had participated in a few other films in between Hercules in New York and Pumping Iron, Arnold’s acting career was about to take off. Schwarzenegger was cast in 1982’s hit film Conan the Barbarian. Two years later he was cast in what would become his most iconic role, that of a time traveling cyborg on a mission to kill in James Cameron’s The Terminator. 

Scwarzenegger’s involvement in The Terminator franchise has spanned more than three decades, with Arnold most recently reprising the role in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate. However, it was 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day which brought him to the highest point in his career. 

You can see Arnold Schwarzenegger discuss Terminator 2: Judgment Day in the YouTube video below.

Schwarzenegger rounded out the rest of the 1990s with a slew of other action movies, as well as showing off his comedy skills in movies like Twins and Junior.

The Governator

By the early 2000s, Arnold had all but retired from acting and had begun to focus on his political career. During an interview with Jay Leno, Schwarzenegger announced that he was running for political office, saying, “The biggest problem that we have is that California is being run now by special interests. As you know, I don’t need to take any money from anybody. I have plenty of money myself. I will make the decisions for the people.”

In a shock during the recall election for Governor Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger won  and was sworn into office in November of 2003. Scwharzenegger would go on to win a second term, though his approval rating had fallen drastically by the time he left office.

Return to Hollywood

After dominating the box office for so many years and weathering the political climate of California, along with a major personal scandal that ended his marriage to Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger returned to Hollywood and jumped back into acting. Since retiring from political office in 2011, Arnold has appeared in several movies, as well as a stint on The Celebrity Apprentice.

Though the actor is in his 70s, he shows no sign of slowing down, with several projects currently in development. Even if her were to retire permanently, he leaves behind a legacy as the top Hollywood action star, a former governor and as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

No one could have expected that the young man from Hercules in Brooklyn, whose dialogue needed to be dubbed, would go on to become an international star. Though Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first film did not make or break his career, it did set the stage for all of his future success.

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