Arnold Schwarzenegger Traded James Earl Jones Workout Tips For Acting Lessons

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Arnold Schwarzenegger may be a widely beloved actor, but he's not one widely recognized for his acting skills. It's not lost on many viewers that his most iconic role is one where he plays a stoic, unfeeling robot, even if he did bring a surprising amount of subtle emotion to the role. 

The good news was that Schwarzenegger was always pretty aware of this shortcoming, which is why he went to one of the greats to work on it. As chronicled in the 1989 book "Flights of Fancy: The Great Fantasy Films," Schwarzenegger asked his "Conan the Barbarian" co-star James Earl Jones to help him out with acting two years prior to the film's release in 1982. As author Kenneth Von Gunden put it:

"Aware of fine stage actor James Earl Jones' desire to keep in shape with physical training, Schwarzenegger worked out an equitable arrangement with him. Arnold helped him with his workouts, and Jones helped the bodybuilder with his acting, showing him different ways to read different lines."

Von Gunden agreed that the lessons mostly paid off: Schwarzenegger's performance in "Conan," while not Oscar-worthy, was still "serviceable." The real flaw with "Conan" was the script, not the performances. Critic Richard Schickel described the movie as "a sort of psychopathic 'Star Wars,' stupid and stupefying." But for the sake of Schwarzenegger's acting career, "serviceable" was all he needed. "Conan" led directly to his "Terminator" role, which then led to him leading "Commando" in 1985, followed by his turns in "The Running Man" and "Predator" two years later. Even before "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" came along, Arnold was already on top of the world.

Schwarzenegger's other plan to improve his performance in "Conan the Barbarian" involved him doing extra rehearsals with the film's director, John Milius. As Von Gunden explained:

"Schwarzenegger's difficulties centered on his accent and his delivery of lines. The first was shrugged off, but Schwarzenegger and Milius did what they could to improve the second. Every day before lunch, the director and his star would retreat to Milius' trailer, where Arnold would practice his longer monologues. By the time he had to deliver his long speeches in the film, Schwarzenegger had rehearsed them perhaps forty or fifty times."

Von Gunden had a lot of praise for Schwarzenegger's screen presence and his work ethic. "Schwarzenegger's sessions with Milius and Jones paid off, and he brings to the part a certain style of 'physical acting' rarely seen in films anymore," he added. "Belying the term 'muscle-bound,' his Conan is lithe and light-footed and no one else, save Bergman, can handle a sword as well as he."

It's Schwarzenegger's sheer physicality that helped him become the most bankable actors of the 1980s and '90s. He eventually reached his career height with "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," a thrilling movie that became the highest-grossing film of 1991 despite its R rating, all with Schwarzenegger featured front and center in the marketing. Not a bad accomplishment for an actor who supposedly can't act.