Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by the Kelce brothers’ podcast and revealed that the one movie he regrets passing on during his long career in Hollywood is “The Rock.”
During the 76-year-old actor’s appearance on the “New Heights” podcast, that hit YouTube on Wednesday, retired NFL star Jason Kelce asked the former Gov. of California if there was any movie he passed on that he wished he had taken. (30:45)
“There was a movie called ‘The Rock’ with Sean Connery,” Schwarzenegger replied, with the former Philadelphia Eagles star making it clear he knew it well. “So, they came to me with a script that was only 80 pages, instead of 120 which normally scripts are.”
“With a lot of handwritten scribbles in it,” he added. “And they tried to explain it to me, ‘Oh, this is what we are going to write.’ So, I said, ‘Look guys why don’t you just come back when it’s finished?’ I said, ‘This is half-baked. I’m not going to make a commitment.”’
The “True Lies” star said he also had 3 other movies lined up at the same time that he had to do in the “next year and a half” so he told them he was going to be keeping busy doing that.
The Hollywood star said they then left and it was Nicolas Cage who famously got the role in the movie alongside screen legend Connery.
“He [Cage] took it … and did a great job with it,” Schwarzenegger said. “And the movie was fantastic even though I was not in it. Nicolas Cage did a fantastic job. Sean Connery was great. The directing was great. The writing, everything was really a straight 10.”
“So, I really enjoyed the movie,” he added. “But that was one movie … I wish I would’ve taken.”
Schwarzenegger — who is known for famous roles in films like “Terminator,” “Predator,” “Commando,” “True Lies,” and “Twins”— gave his advice to the Chiefs star Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, who he speculated were both in Hollywood shooting the podcast because they had aspirations of having a career in the entertainment business. He said only take movie roles with “well-written scripts.”
“I’m not stupid, right? There’s a reason these guys are out here together in Hollywood,” he added, as the two brothers laughed. “There’s all kinds of interviews being scheduled for movie parts. You guys have it lined up, you just don’t want to give it away right now …”
“You’re really talented, and you speak well,” the actor continued. “And you’re full of energy and you ask interesting questions and you say funny things.”