Jamie Lee Curtis Once Praised Arnold Schwarzenegger for Agreeing to 1 ‘True Lies’ Change
More than 25 years after True Lies hit theaters, it remains one of the highlights in the careers of Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Curtis once called it the best thing she’s ever done, and it’s one of Schwarzenegger’s essential movies. The blockbuster movie had a tight turnaround time between filming and release, but Schwarzenegger agreed to one last-minute change that proved to Curtis what a great guy he is.
Director James Cameron got ‘True Lies’ into theaters just a few weeks after filming wrapped
True Lies stars Schwarzenegger as a secret government agent who is the only person standing in the way of total catastrophe.
Schwarzenegger takes the lead, but Jamie Lee Curtis’ dance might be the most famous scene in the movie. All the same, Arnold held his own on the dancefloor doing the tango with co-star Tia Carrere (despite making a dangerous mistake while filming the scene).
True Lies wrapped shooting in March of 1994, and it debuted in the United States a few weeks later on July 12. True Lies’ quick turnaround is even more impressive considering Cameron and Schwarzenegger agreed to a last-minute True Lies change to benefit Curtis.
Jamie Lee Curtis praised Arnold Schwarzenegger for agreeing to a last-minute ‘True Lies’ change: “That was a menschy move”
Between wrapping the shoot and putting the finishing touches on True Lies, Cameron and Schwarzenegger agreed to make one last-minute change. It happened with a surprise phone call to Curtis.
Cameron watched a nearly-finished product and realized the movie was as much a marriage story as a spy adventure. As Curtis told Entertainment Weekly (via YouTube), Cameron and Schwarzenegger called with a proposal:
“In my contract, it said [the credits would read], ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘True Lies’ starring Jamie Lee Curtis.’ And Jim said, ‘I called Arnold today because I’ve just watched the movie again, and it really is a domestic epic. It really is a movie about a marriage. And I asked Arnold if it was OK to put your name above the title alongside his, and he’s agreed.’
“I’m telling you, in the world of show business — show-off business is how I like to refer to it — that is such a coveted, negotiable commodity, the credit. Arnold Schwarzenegger said absolutely, like that. There was not a question that he would do that. That was a menschy move on his part.”
Jamie Lee Curtis describes Arnold Schwarzenegger agreeing to a True Lies credit change
As the A-list star, Schwarzenegger could have put his foot down and kept his name as the only one before the title. He didn’t, which is why Curtis called him a great guy and easily recalled the phone call about the last-minute True Lies change more than 20 years after the movie came out.
Names in movie credits and on posters are a big deal
The True Lies movie poster listed Schwarzenegger’s name prominently above the title. Cameron’s name appeared under the title, but the poster listed other names in block text at the bottom.
Still, the opening credits of True Lies put Curtis near the top. After the words “A James Cameron film,” the following two names to appear before the title are Schwarzenegger’s and Curtis’.
Schwarzenegger defied the industry standard and ignored Curtis’ contract with the switch, but that’s not always the case. Covering the intricacies of movie credits in 1995, the New York Times wrote, “[C]redit fights are a constant throughout the production of a film, and putting them together takes months. Credits for everyone except director, producer, and actors are left up to the producers and the studios, who haggle over whom to include and what to call them.”
Credit fights may be common, but Curtis praised Schwarzenegger for his selfless last-minute change to True Lies.
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