Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Most Dangerous Mistake on ‘True Lies’: ‘It Would Have Put Us Back 30 Days in the Production’
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Avatar director James Cameron worked together three times as actor and director. Schwarzenegger’s breakout role came starring in Cameron’s first hit movie, 1984’s The Terminator. They worked together on Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991 and again on 1994’s True Lies. The latter was a James Bond-like action comedy that featured a Schwarzenegger mistake in a scene with Tia Carrere that could have cost the movie a month of production time.
Arnold Schwarzenegger co-star Miriam Margolyes accused him of farting in her face while filming ‘End of Days’
Before we get to Schwarzenegger’s potentially costly mistake on True Lies, we have to mention the time he allegedly farted on a co-star.
Years after his Cameron collaborations, Schwarzenegger starred in 1999’s End of Days. He plays an ex-cop in New York City who has to thwart Satan’s plan to find a woman to birth his child. Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, and Miriam Margolyes, who later played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies.
Margolyes recently revealed that Schwarzenegger farted in her face during a pause between takes, and she still hasn’t forgiven him for it. That could be one of the reasons Margolyes didn’t care for working with him.
Tia Carrere also had a close encounter with Schwarzenegger while shooting True Lies. There was no flatulence, but Arnold’s mistake could have been costly.
Schwarzenegger’s ‘True Lies’ mistake happened while dancing the tango with Tia Carrere
Schwarzenegger’s characters have done dozens of perilous things in the movies, but Arnold’s most dangerous stunt work came on the dance floor.
When Cameron sent him the script, he wrote in the margins that the tango scene he shared with Carrere would be his most dangerous stunt. The director was nearly prophetic. Carrere revealed Schwarzenegger was a capable dancer, but he made what could have been a dangerous mistake, as she told Yahoo:
“He did step on my toes. It would have been dangerous if I had broken my toes, I suppose, because that would have put us back 30 days in the production. … I think Arnold did an amazing job in the tango. He has great posture, and that’s all you really need.”
Tia Carrere discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dancing mistake while filming True Lies
Schwarzenegger was long past his professional bodybuilding days when he and Carrere shot the tango scene, but he wasn’t a twig. Though he practiced all the right moves for the dance scene, he still managed to step on his co-star’s toes. Luckily for her and the production schedule, Schwarzenegger didn’t do any lasting damage to Carrere’s digits.
‘True Lies’ is one of Schwarzenegger’s best movies, and ‘End of Days’ is one of the worst
True Lies remains one of Schwarzenegger’s best movies, at least based on IMDb ratings. His other two Cameron collaborations take the top two spots.
The female roles in True Lies might not withstand the scrutiny of present-day society, but Carrere didn’t feel her Juno Skinner part was a caricature. As she told Yahoo, she felt her character was a strong female lead, not a misogynistic portrayal of a strong woman.
End of Days, on the other hand, is one of the worst Schwarzenegger movies. It has a 5.8 rating on IMDb, a 33 on Metacritic, and Schwarzenegger, Byrne, and director Peter Hyams all earned nominations at the 2000 Razzie Awards. Critics and fans panned the movie, but Schwarzenegger received a nomination for favorite actor in an action/science fiction film at the 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
Schwarzenegger stepping on Carrere’s toes in True Lies could have been a costly mistake, but at least the movie holds up better than End of Days.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
