The Clint Eastwood movie behind Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comeback: “That was so cool”

In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger walked away from the world of movies to follow his political ambitions. He did quite well, becoming the 38th governor of California and proving that there is literally nothing he can’t do. After two terms and eight years in charge of the Golden State, Schwarzenegger left office and, after a little break, returned to the business that had made him a global megastar.

The Governator made minor appearances in the first two ‘Expendables’ films before, in 2013, he took on his first starring role since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines a decade earlier. The movie was called The Last Stand and it cast Arnie as the sheriff of a sleepy Arizona town. When a drug gang rolls in and starts causing trouble, it’s up to the long, muscular arm of the law to team up with a local resident (Johnny Knoxville) and an FBI Agent (Forest Whitaker) to take them down.

Not only had Schwarzenegger been out of the game for a decade, he was also getting on in years. He was in his mid-sixties whilst filming The Last Stand and, considering audiences were used to seeing him running and jumping around screen with reckless abandon, he knew there was a risk of coming across washed up. Luckily, he found inspiration in the form of one of his fellow tough guy icons.

Speaking to Reuters ahead of the film’s release, Schwarzenegger explained that he took cues from Clint Eastwood’s performance in the 1993 political thriller In the Line of Fire. Eastwood was of a similar age to Schwarzenegger when he made that movie, which included a scene in which his character, a Secret Service agent, gets out of breath after running alongside the presidential limo. “I thought that was so cool,” the Austrian superstar said. “I remember how smart it was to acknowledge that because it took the curse off. No one was trying to say, ‘Isn’t he too old for this job?’ That’s what I tried to do in this film since (Eastwood) is a big idol of mine and I always like to learn from him.”

The Last Stand was heavily marketed as Arnie’s comeback movie, so the pressure was on for him to perform. “I’m not a 30-year-old action hero anymore,” he admitted. “I’m now 65 years old, but I’m still doing action movies. I acknowledge that it’s a different ballgame now. I’m an older guy.” He said he was drawn to the script because he viewed as “a traditional Schwarzenegger action movie… big blow-ups, a great story, good drama, fight scenes and action from the beginning to the end.”

Alas, critics did not share in this enthusiasm. The Last Stand received mixed reviews upon its release, with most of the ire directed at the acting and screenplay. However, those that enjoyed the movie admitted that those weren’t the reasons anybody paid to see Schwarzenegger. They wanted action, explosions, and dumb set-pieces, which is precisely what The Last Stand provided.

Audiences can be very cruel, especially when a performer doesn’t live up to their expectations. By acknowledging his age, instead of trying to act around it, Schwarzenegger not only provided a more realistic character, but also prevented anybody from making fun of him over it. After all, people can’t make jokes if you get there first.

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