People massively underestimateArnold Schwarzenegger’s acting abilities; he’s proven with movies likeMaggieandThe Terminatorthat he’s not just a one-note action hero. Schwarzenegger started out as a bodybuilder before making the transition to acting, and as with anyone who comes to acting from another field – whether that field is music, wrestling, or something else – his dramatic capabilities have been consistently underrated. There’s a misconception that Schwarzenegger plays the same character in every movie, like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but that’s simply not true. Schwarzenegger has played all kinds of roles, from a killer cyborg to a pregnant man.
Schwarzenegger certainly has a familiar on-screen persona that can be seen in a lot of his action movies, likeCommandoandThe Expendablessaga, and that on-screen persona is a lot of fun to watch. But he’s shown time and time again that he’s capable of so much more than that. He’s shown a darker side of that persona inSabotageandEnd of Days. He’s shown off his comedic chops in the family-friendly farceKindergarten Copandthe self-aware satireLast Action Hero. Schwarzenegger has given some genuinely great performances throughout his career.
10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Characters, Ranked Villainous To Heroic
Most Arnold Schwarzenegger characters are heroes, like True Lies' Harry Tasker, but others are more villainous, like Batman & Robin’s Mr. Freeze.
Sabotage
Cast
Sabotage is a 2014 action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger plays John ‘Breacher’ Wharton, the leader of a DEA task force that is hunted down by a drug cartel. Alongside Schwarzenegger stars Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, Olivia Williams, Joe Manganiello, and Josh Holloway. David Ayer helms the film with a script written by himself and Skip Woods.
David Ayer turned Agatha Christie’sAnd Then There Were Noneinto a high-octane action thriller withSabotage. Schwarzenegger plays the leader of a DEA squad whose officers start getting picked off one by one after they steal a fortune they seized from a drug cartel. It’s an interesting morality tale: these law enforcement officers break the laws they’re supposed to protect and end up paying the ultimate price for it.
Although the film itself was criticized for an uneven screenplay and an excess of graphic violence, Schwarzenegger’s performance was universally praised. He could’ve played Special Agent John “Breacher” Wharton as a run-of-the-mill action hero, buthe brings an unexpected amount of depth to the role. As he loses people under his watch and races against time to prevent more loss, Schwarzenegger shows Breacher to be surprisingly vulnerable.
True Lies
In James Cameron’s 1994 action comedy True Lies, the spy Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives a double life as a mellow computer salesman and keeps his real job secret from his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis). However, she joins him when he discovers a terrorist plot to destroy America.
James Cameron’sTrue Liesimagines what would happen if Schwarzenegger was cast to play James Bond (andif the Bond movies were even sillier).True Liesis a fun blend of action-packed spy thriller and wacky family sitcom about a government agent who leads a double life as a globetrotting operative and a suburban husband and father. Harry Tasker’s worlds collide when his wife discovers that he’s not a mild-mannered I.T. technician, but a real-life super-spy.
True Liescombined Schwarzenegger’s abilities as an action hero with his abilities as a comedian for a totally unique performance. Cameron tailored the script to Schwarzenegger’s over-the-top idiosyncrasies and it resulted in one of his best performances. Schwarzenegger nails both the spy action and the family comedy, and he shares intoxicating chemistry with his on-screen spouse, Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Last Stand
The Last Stand follows Sheriff Ray Owens in the quiet border town of Sommerton Junction. After leaving the LAPD, Owens faces a notorious drug baron and his gang, escaping FBI custody and heading towards the town. As the criminals approach, Owens and his team prepare to intercept them.
Schwarzenegger brought his comedic chops to one of his typical action vehicles withThe Last Stand.The Last Standis essentially a contemporary western – a modern-day version ofRio Bravo– in which a small-town sheriff and his ragtag band of deputies stand between a drug lord fleeing the country and the Mexican border. Sheriff Ray Owens is more of an everyman than the invincible supermen that Schwarzenegger usually portrays in the action genre.
Owens is a grizzled veteran in a sleepy, mostly crime-free town who’s suddenly thrust into action and forced to prove he’s still got it. Schwarzenegger leans into that archetype brilliantly, and there’s a meta element since it was his first leading role in a decade.He also shares a hilarious comic dynamic with Johnny Knoxville as an eccentric vintage arms collectorwho provides Owens with an unconventional arsenal for the showdown.
Total Recall
Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”, Total Recall tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a construction worker who receives an implanted memory of an adventure in humanity’s colony on Mars. Quaid finds his memories playing out in real time, hunted by agents of a mysterious organization as he works to topple the tyrannical regime of a Martian dictator (Ronny Cox).
Based on the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,”Total Recallsees Schwarzenegger’s futuristic blue-collar joe Doug Quaid visiting a company that implants memories of vacations into the minds of people who can’t afford the real thing. He asks to be implanted with memories of an espionage mission to Mars, but the procedure goes awry and he thinks he’s actually a spy with unfinished business on Mars. And as the men in black come after him, it becomes unclear if he actually is an intergalactic secret agent.
Schwarzenegger had to stretch well beyond his usual action-hero persona to convey Doug’s confusion. He’s essentially the audience surrogate, since he’s just as baffled by these mysterious plot turns as the audience is. If Schwarzenegger’s performance didn’t work, then the movie wouldn’t work – and the movie definitely works.
Last Action Hero
Last Action Hero follows young Danny Madigan, who magically enters the world of his favorite action film through a special ticket. Inside the movie, he teams up with action hero Jack Slater, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, to battle cinematic villains. Directed by John McTiernan, the film blends reality and fiction, offering a whimsical take on action film tropes.
Schwarzenegger had already shown off his comedic chops when he teamed up with Danny DeVito to makeTwins– and proven that he could deftly handle a starring role in a comedy – but he added a layer of self-awareness when he appeared inLast Action Hero.Last Action Herowas way ahead of its time in its meta deconstruction of the action genre. And not only that; it required him to play as many roles as Peter Sellers inDr. Strangelove.
Schwarzenegger’s trifecta of roles inLast Action Herois a comic tour de force.
Schwarzenegger’s main role inLast Action Herois franchise star Jack Slater, who’s magically transported from the movie world into the real world, and he’s hilarious in that fish-out-of-water role. But he also plays a fictionalized version of himself,Curb Your Enthusiasm-style, and an absurdist action-hero take on Hamlet. Schwarzenegger’s trifecta of roles inLast Action Herois a comic tour de force.
The Terminator
The Terminator, directed by James Cameron and released in 1984, features a cyborg assassin sent back in time to eliminate Sarah Connor, the mother of a future resistance leader. As the relentless machine pursues its mission, a human warrior is sent to protect her and secure humanity’s survival.
It would be easy to take a cheap shot at the fact that Schwarzenegger gave one of his finest performances as a killing machine who doesn’t express a single emotion. But his titular android inThe Terminatoris one of the most iconic villainsin movie history. It’s harder than it looks for a human being to come off as totally cold and emotionless, but Schwarzenegger nailed it inThe Terminator, and it made the character a suitably chilling on-screen presence.
From his phonebook murders to his police station massacre, Schwarzenegger’s T-800 is absolutely terrifying. He can frighten the audience with nothing more than a cold look. Schwarzenegger is always included in the pantheon of great action stars with Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis, but he should also be included in the pantheon of great slasher villains with Robert Englund and Nick Castle.
Kindergarten Cop
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in Ivan Reitman’s 1990 comedy Kindergarten Cop as John Kimble, an undercover police detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch an elusive drug dealer. Penelope Ann Miller co-stars as teacher Joyce Palmieri, with Pamela Reed as Detective Phoebe O’Hara and Richard Tyson as the criminal Cullen Crisp.
Schwarzenegger’s character inKindergarten Cop, Detective John Kimble, starts off as a typical Schwarzenegger role. He’s a renegade cop who doesn’t play by the rules in his ruthless pursuit of a notorious drug kingpin. But the character takes a turn into brand-new territory for Schwarzenegger – and for Kimble – when he’s forced to go undercover as a substitute teacher in a kindergarten class to get close to the drug lord’s ex-wife and figure out his whereabouts.
Initially, Kimble is totally unfit for his role as a kindergarten teacher and he frequently loses his temper with his students. But as he gets to know the kids and starts to care about them,he proves to be a surprisingly great teacher. Schwarzenegger nails this emotional arc, and even does a terrific job with some of the more dramatic scenes, like confronting an abusive father.
Predator
A team of elite commandos led by Major Dutch Schaefer is sent on a rescue mission deep in the Central American jungle. However, they soon find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior with advanced technology and a penchant for collecting human trophies. As the creature picks them off one by one, Dutch must rely on his wits and combat skills to survive the ultimate test of man versus alien.
On the surface,Predatormight seem like a standard ludicrous ‘80s action movie, but it’s actually much deeper and smarter than that. It’s the quintessential man-versus-beast story about the biggest, baddest human being on Earth relying on his primal instincts to defeat an alien: the perfect killing machine who came down from space to hunt humans for sport. Schwarzenegger’s Dutch uses not only his brawn, but his brains to outwit the Predator and get the upper hand.
Schwarzenegger’s bombastic,matter-of-fact acting style would be out of place in a movie likeRomaorManchester by the Sea, but it’s right at home in a movie likePredator. No one else could convincingly beat the Predator in hand-to-hand combat, but Schwarzenegger’s victory in that boss battle is totally believable.Predatoris one of the ultimate Schwarzenegger movies.
Maggie
Maggie is a drama that explores a father’s struggle to care for his infected daughter during a viral outbreak. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Wade Vogel, a protective parent who faces emotional challenges as he anticipates the inevitable transformation of his daughter Maggie, portrayed by Abigail Breslin.
Perhaps Schwarzenegger’s most radical departure from his usual roles was inMaggie. One might expect a zombie movie starring Schwarzenegger to be an action-packed extravaganza likePlanet Terror, with Schwarzenegger plowing through the walking dead with a sawn-off shotgun. ButMaggieis actually a somber drama that’s more about the responsibilities of fatherhood and the fear of losing a child than the battle against the undead.
Schwarzenegger plays her father, who ignores her warnings and goes searching for her
The movie takes place in a world struggling to contain a zombie apocalypse. Abigail Breslin plays a young woman who’s bitten by a zombie and runs away from home to protect her family. Schwarzenegger plays her father, who ignores her warnings and goes searching for her, intent on looking after her for the few weeks she has left before the virus takes hold. It’s a surprisingly moving father-daughter story.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a sci-fi action film directed by James Cameron, set ten years after the original. It chronicles a new effort to eliminate future rebellion leader John Connor, despite a reprogrammed terminator dispatched to safeguard him.
After playing the T-800 as a terrifying villain in the firstTerminatormovie, Schwarzenegger played a different T-800 as a watchful protector in the sequel,Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The difference between these two Terminators is night and day. It’s a testament to Schwarzenegger’s acting abilities that he could play the same Terminator model with the same leather jacket and the same monotonous line deliveries, and still make the audience believe that it’s a totally distinctive character from the previous one.
In the first movie, Schwarzenegger’s Terminator never had to learn how to feel, but inT2, he becomes a caring father figure. Showing emotion creeping through the facade of an emotionless machine is an even greater acting challenge than pure emotionlessness. And again,Arnold Schwarzeneggerknocked it out of the park with an unforgettable performance.
