Arnold Schwarzenegger has built one of the most iconic careers in the world. Aside from his work in films and the world of bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger became an even more notorious winner when he became the Governor of California, holding the position from 2003 to 2011. Despite his impressive trajectory, even Schwarzenegger has a few regrets.
In a chat with Business Insider from 2017, Schwarzenegger revealed the one scene he could scrub from his filmography. The movie was "Hercules in New York," his first film ever in the US, released in 1970, two years following his move from Austria.
“In one scene, it’s me wrestling a bear, and you could tell the bear in Central Park was not a bear, it was a guy with this coat thrown over him,” he said. "But it was done so cheap… We shot the movie in 1969; everything was so cheap.”
The film follows Schwarzenegger as Hercules, who is bored with living his life in Olympus and decides to spice things up by moving to New York despite his father's objections. In the city, he, of course, embarks on a bodybuilding career.
Schwarzenegger got the part despite having no experience in front of the camera, and had an accent that the filmmakers decided to dub over his voice by an uncredited actor, resulting in an overall strange experience.
Schwarzenegger was credited as Arnold Strong "Mr. Universe," with the filmmakers and producing likely hoping to cash in on Schwarzenegger's reputation from the bodybuilding world.
At least the Schwarzenegger family got some good times out of it
Despite the terrible scene, Schwarzenegger and his family have obtained some good moments out of "Hercules in New York."
“I hadn’t seen it in so long,” he said. “And my kids got it and put it on, and they saw me wrestling a bear. I had to stop and watch this entire fight scene with that bear. Just to watch how ludicrous it was!”