"Arnold Schwarzenegger"

0:06I'm waiting for the three guys, I mean Jason, Sean and Will, but I mean I don't know what happened with them. Maybe their equipment doesn't work. Or maybe everything doesn't work. Who knows what's going on here. But welcome to Spotless.

0:35Jason, what did you do last night? I know what you did. You went to the Lakers game. Yes, had a great, great time. Really fun. I hosted three 11-year-olds, one of which was my daughter. Was it fun? It was really fun. Did they win? They did win. They tried to lose, but they fixed it there at the end. And it was a hoot I've heard people describe fun things as. That's fun. That's fun. I like going to the Lakers game. It's fun. And then today I was going to do some cooking, but then I heard that, I think Sean, maybe you might have mentioned to Amanda that no one's interested in eating, or was it you, Will?

1:13No one's interested in eating, Sean, that what I was planning on cooking apparently got kind of a want-want. Amanda said what you were planning on cooking and Sean said, nobody wants that. Yeah, I said nobody wants that. Well, who wouldn't want a gooey peanut butter chocolate chip bar? Yeah. Oh, sorry. Gooey pumpkin chocolate chip bar. Well, no. The only, okay. And then the other thing was a cranberry lemon bar. No, that's right. Nobody wants pumpkin in anything and nobody wants cranberry in anything. And apparently the gal said, all of them said that also you can't have lemon in a dessert. That was according to our hostess.

1:58Why? So I guess a real bullet dodged. I guess so. Yeah. You know what all these freaks on the New York Times top 10 desserts list are thinking. You know what was interesting though? Wait, but this is like... Amanda said that every year you do this and that you like to cook a few things here and there. And I knew nothing about this. I did not either. I didn't either. I had forgotten. But I guess she says that this is what I do every year. And is it because I bake some stuff because I want a piece? You inspired me. I want a piece. Oh, that's good. You inspired me. I was so you've done cheesecake you've done brownies you've done I'm gonna do eclairs next week that thing you did last night was good that thing you did oh last night I did not like that I made this new thing last night I didn't love it it was too much too sweet but Jay I made a box of mac and cheese last night at 10.30 because I have too big of a gummy and I feel like crap today after a full dinner he went home and ate a full box and hasn't eaten all day because he's been I almost took a picture of it and sent it to you I got a gummy wipe out.

3:02Yeah, I did have a gummy wipe out. Still recovering. Listen, I tell you what, I tell you who did not eat an entire box of mac and cheese last night was our guest. Because this is somebody who has famously taken care of himself his entire life. This is a person who has made a mark in every single thing he's decided to go into in his life. it's uh it's pretty hard to have lived in western culture and not know who this man is pretty hard do i sound very canadian when i say that i sound almost or chicago like you're from chicago um this person has is is such a part of our sort of cultural fabric um at risk of embarrassing him uh when i say that but it is true he over the last 40 50 years he has been in absolutely every, seemingly every walk of life.

4:01He has done everything from being an author to being a incredible, one of the biggest film stars ever to being a politician. He is not, he refuses to be categorized as a self-made man because I think that he claims that he's had a lot of help along the way, but it sure seems like he did a lot. He's done a lot of heavy lifting on his own, especially he did a lot of heavy lifting when he won, I'm going to say, seven-time Mr. Olympia. He was also a four-time Mr. University. He's also the 38th governor of the state of California. Got it. Guys, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hello there. Hello there. Hello, Mr.

4:49Arnold. What a guest. What a guest. Wow. I couldn't, because Jason guessed it, I couldn't even say you're a number one New York Times selling a number one author. You know, I mean, just the list just keeps going, but Jason guessed it. So, Mr. Schwarzenegger, nice to meet you. Well, thank you very much for the nice introduction, and I really appreciate that, the buildup. But, I mean, it's so entertaining to listen to you guys talk. Oh, yeah. It's sad. I mean, I very rarely had conversations like that. I mean, what is cheese, mac and cheese? What was this? Mac and cheese, and it's 4 o 'clock, and I'm late.

5:31It's not one of our best. But you know what? You've really brought it up. Yeah. But, I mean, it's wild. I mean, it's like, but the funny thing is, I don't know you, Jason, and I don't know Will, even though I admire your work on television and in the movies that I've seen, and you've entertained me thoroughly. but Sean I know personally Sean is someone that I've met I think it was back in the 90s if I'm not mistaken he was out here and Samavik even helped me with Maria together decorate the house what I remember so it was a generally positive meeting very very positive he's a really positive guy Well.

6:19So I love it. But I mean, when I hear this food kind of story. Yeah, yeah. It's upsetting. I mean, what a drama. You've got to help. Oh, my God. I ate at 10 o 'clock mac and cheese, and they didn't feel good, and they only threw up. Guess why? And this is like terrible. The world is coming to an end. I said to myself, oh, what a sad story that is. It is horrible. I feel so sorry for him now. Thank you. I mean, I don't even know how to recuperate. Oh, no, where do you hear what he ate the rest of the 24 hours? I wanted to start this whole interview in a positive way, in an absolute way. And then I get this beating there about how terrible things went from last night on 10 o 'clock.

6:59I mean, Sean, what has gone on? I mean, you have to come. I don't know where you live now, but, I mean, you were out here in Los Angeles. I'm in the same house you came to visit me in. Okay, good. So then it's about time we get back together again. Yes. So I can go and make you one of the steaks over here so you don't get sick and tired of the food at 10 o 'clock at night. You have to come over for steak dinner or for chicken dinner or for something maybe vegan. Well, that's our time, Arnold. Thank you so much. Let me just say this. Having Sean, it's bad enough hearing what you went through last night, but having Arnold Schwarzenegger recite it back to you is one of the best things that I've ever heard in my life because it does really put it in a different light.

7:42Like, right? It makes it sound so crazy. And how disappointed he is in your show reactions. It's just like any dad. Arnold, how long do you think Sean... I just thought it was funny because then you guys all went off and talked about what you ate and the things that you're doing at home when you're cooking and stuff. So I said to myself, well, maybe I've plugged in here to a cooking show or something like that. Maybe you guys have a cook-off. It's been called worse. Well, how long do you think Sean, Arnold, how long do you think Sean can get away with eating like this? Because isn't it true as you get older, doesn't it?

8:16Yeah, the metabolism slows down such that if you keep eating the same thing you ate last year, you will gain, I think it's three pounds a year if you just eat the same thing every year. Like your metabolic rate goes down such that you've got to eliminate three pounds a year from what you eat. Is that right? Yeah, it sounds good mathematically what you just said, but I think it's very hard to do. Yeah. Because I can tell you for myself, I have to go on bike rides every day, I work out every day, because it's very hard to kind of stop eating or to just go on severe diets like some people do. I've never done that.

8:55So, of course, you develop a little bit of stomach because of that. But I think the key thing is to keep it in moderation and not to gain too much weight because otherwise it's made for you, for your heart and for your health and family. It makes it sound good. You gain a little bit of stomach. That's all right. You gain a little bit of stomach, yeah, it doesn't sound as nasty. No. Arnold, if I could ask you, because there's so much stuff I want to talk about before we get to this, but now that we're on the subject, because like I said, you're famously known, you know, seven-time Mr. Olympia, four-time Mr.

9:24Universe, you've done it all, known for your physique for many years and award-winning physique. And you said that you still work out, so you're riding the bike, you're doing stuff. I'm so interested. What does working out for you, because you're not competing in that way anymore, what does working out now for you look like? Literally, I just want to know selfishly for me. I go on a bike ride. I ride the bike around 45 minutes to an hour a day. And I work out with weights at Gould's gym, I would say, around 45 minutes a day. But very light, nothing heavy, because I had heart surgery. in 1997 and then the doctors were telling me that I should stop the heavy, heavy lifting because it's not good for your valves.

10:15They get kind of, you know, they wipe out sooner and so therefore, you know, I just started lifting less weights, more reps and stuff like that, but I work out regularly. But as you know, as you get order, it's kind of like how the hell do you hold on to some of the stuff that you once had? And it's really, it's tough because it's... Wait, so if you do like free weights and lift weights like that, it's bad for the valves of your heart or for your heart? No, not normally for heart, but I mean, it is when you have had valve surgery, aortic valve and pulmonary valve. You don't want to put that much pressure on it, you know, when you really bench press heavy or do heavy deadlifts or squats and all that stuff.

10:58You're good, Sean. Then you put a lot of pressure on that valve, and it's unnecessary. So the idea is let's use less weight, and therefore you don't have to switch the valve. I mean, after 23 years later, I still had to exchange it anyway and had another surgery and all that stuff. But the bottom line is you don't want to abuse it. No, got it. The valve, everything is like a tire. You have a certain amount of miles, and then you just have to switch. Also, it's midsection. It will remind you of a tire. let's get back to gold's gym can you walk me through that process you walk into the gym there you're ready to get your pump on like yeah so you got your punch your ticket you got 10 more visits left and and then and you get to your favorite machine and there's some some jamoke on that and he's uh he's sitting there he's running through his emails he's still sitting on the thing and it's he's do you give him a hairy eyeball like buddy let's go i want to get in there or or you have a special section ready for you because you've been going there for years right no i mean there's no reason to approach it that way i just always when someone sits on a machine or when someone works out on a machine i just ask i say you mind if i work in with you can imagine while they're resting you while they're resting you do your rep i got you yeah because you know everyone walks around so what that basically means is if you do your set don't don't just sit there maybe while you're resting and then you can cut in again after that because I go from machine to machine to machine.

12:31And so it's easy for me to just ask people if I can cut in and they're more than happy to do that. So there's no problem with that. So it's just a matter of attitude without saying to someone, hey, get off the bench. I am going to make a, sorry, just to follow up on that, I make a safe guess that you're doing well enough to have your own set of weights at the house there. You just like to go down to Gold's to bond with the fellas? I have a fully equipped gym at home. And during COVID, I trained all the time just at home. But I am a company queen. And so that means that I love company, whatever I do.

13:13I don't like to go out for lunch by myself. I like to eat with somebody. I don't like to go to football games or the soccer game by myself I like to go with somebody or with a bunch of guys or people and the same is also with working out I get a lot of energy when I go to a gym and I see everyone else working out and sweating and training hard it makes me inspired and then I want to work out too so it's just makes a lot of sense yeah because like I was going to ask you like even at this age nobody loves to go to the gym there's not a lot of people that love to work out or exercise. But what is it that, because it's not, it's hard work.

13:50Like if I can skip it, I'll skip it. Yeah. But like, you know, what's the draw to keep doing it now and always? So that you don't pop, Sean. I know, but I'm like, but to work at the intensity level that you're still working out at is a decision. It's not that intense. It's not that intense. I mean, but first of all, I love working out. Yeah, I know. I don't know why. Because it just makes me feel good. I understand. When I work out, it makes me feel good. I always say to people, when I get up in the morning and I bicycle down to the gym, I feel like I'm bicycling through a black and white movie.

14:28And then all of a sudden, when I'm finished working out and bicycle back, I feel like it's a color movie. All right. The whole world is more colorful. I feel more positive. It's like the rainbow you see after you finish macaroni and cheese. I'll only get on a bicycle to go to get a black and white shake. That's the only way. Or a black and white cookie. or um that's the only way he's doing it that's so true uh i i just i just i just love it i love the feeling that i get from that it's addictive so i'm addicted to working out i have to say so to me it's not kind of a chore um because i know why i'm doing it you love it i want to look half decent uh you know at my age even though it's beautiful you look beautiful arnold i think the beard looks gorgeous too look at look at the beard is gorgeous yeah it is it looks It looks really good.

15:16Thank you. But Jason, let me tell you something. First of all, I just want to let you know that you, with your show Ozark, I mean, you have blown me away. You know, there's three of my favorite shows was Ozark and Narcos and Yellowstone that I watched. Thank you. It was just so, I mean, talking about addictive to working out, I was addicted to watching your show. because you did such an unbelievable job and it was really fantastic. You're very, very nice. I wanted you to know how much you entertained me and how much pleasure you've brought to me watching this series. It makes me shy. Thank you, though.

15:58Oh, Jason, entertain him right now. I get small. I can talk in the Marty voice. Ready? Hi, this is me. I'm just talking. Oh, Marty. That's Marty. And we will be right back. all right back to the show so arnold i you know i mentioned in the intro all the things you've done and everything that you've done every every sort of thing that you've decided to get into you've been successful and you started with with bodybuilding that's what initially i i gather took you from austria to brought you here to america and then you got into films and you were as successful as anybody could ever imagine being in in films you're the biggest star in the world and then you got into politics and became the 38th governor of California.

16:49So cool. It is amazing. Unbelievable. And I ask people this sometimes when we've had musicians on and artists on, just from every sort of whatever, whatever you do. And I always say, do you ever, do you have those moments where you sit back now and you go, wow, you look back where you came from, back from being a teen or being a kid in Austria and now here you are having had this incredible run in all these different disciplines? And do you look back and go, hey, I really accomplished a lot. Are you able to enjoy it or have perspective of it in that way? I do sometimes, but very, very rare. First of all, because I never really feel that, you know, I am that great.

17:37By any means, I always felt like I could do better. Even when I was in my bodybuilding heyday, I would win the Mr. Olympia contest and then I would look in the mirror afterwards and just say to myself, how the hell did this body win? You know, it's kind of like I'm not ever satisfied. I always want to climb higher and higher and higher. And I think that's what inspires me. But the thing that I do think about quite frequently is not that I did it, but how did I do it? Right. Because that's really the interesting thing because how did you do it? Well, it's that the principles, and this is, I think, why on the end I wrote this book, Be Useful, is because the principles and the tools that are used in bodybuilding, I used the very same tools in show business.

18:25And they used the very same tools when I ran for governor and then to become governor and then to be governor. So it was the same thing. It was like, you know, having a great vision and just chasing that vision, go after it relentlessly and work your ass off. Don't listen to the naysayers. You know, just shoot for higher goals rather than low goals and just go all out. You know, there's this German saying, wenschen, denschen, and I talk about it in the book. So if you do something, just, you know, go all the way. And give something back because we have to kind of, and you mentioned that briefly, that, you know, that I never felt that I was a self-made man, that I was very fortunate that I had so much help along the way that I felt that I have to give something back now too.

19:14And so, you know, for decades now, I have been trying to give something back to my community. I mean, if it is working with Special Olympics and being a coach for Special Olympics or starting after school programs or being the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and President Bush and all of those kind of things. It was all about giving back and then eventually becoming governor because remember when I ran for governor, my agents kept saying to me, I don't know, this is the stupidest move that I've ever seen because, I mean, you make$20 million a movie. Because they're like, we can't profit off it.

19:45I mean, it's like, you know, what the hell? You're going to miss out on two movies a year? That's$40 million. Why would you do that? And I said to myself, and I said to them, I said, hey, I made all the money because of America. I became what I am today because of America. I said, America gave me the opportunity, so I don't mind putting now something back into it and giving something back. So that's the way I felt. But the key thing is the tools. There's tools that can make you successful. And I think I write about that very effectively in the book. And so it has been really great to see the book be successful and be number one on the bestseller list and all of those kind of things and selling really well internationally.

20:26Yeah, I watched your documentary. I thought it was incredibly inspiring. And I loved how it was in three parts. It was from Austria to bodybuilding, then to being an actor, than to being the governor. And one of the things you said at the beginning of the documentary, which has stayed with me was, you said, the whole thing started out with, I don't know why, but I was given this thing that was put in my head where, if I have a vision, I can't stop until I see it through. I don't know why I'm, you said, I don't know why I'm like that. I just am that. And you put on your wall, a picture of your favorite bodybuilder, your inspiration.

21:00And then you kept using like vision boards and then goal lists and everything. I've been talking about that for years. So I really connected with that. I thought it was cool. Well, thank you very much. And it is so true that if you have a vision, it's so much easier to get kind of like into it and to kind of chase it rather than, let's say, going to the gym and not knowing why you're at the gym other than the doctor told you you should work out a little bit because it's good for your health. But to me, I always had fun going to the gym, lifting the weights, doing an extra... I was looking forward to an extra thousand sit-ups and stuff like that because I knew that each one of those reps is going to get me one step closer in winning that title.

21:42And, you know, I admired this guy Reg Park who was Mr. Universe three times and then got into movies, into Hercules movies. And so I said to myself, well, I can do that. That's what I want to chase. That is the dream that I have. That's the vision that I have. And that's what I chose. And then once your mind was set on it, you were like, I'm getting that. It was like a machine. I was just following it and just trying to figure out, okay, how do I train now? And I copied this guy's training methods and other people's training methods. And I just, you know, it just, by the time I was 20, I became the youngest Mr.

22:17Universe ever. And so I realized that it was that having that dream that really helped me and not listening to the naysayers. Because you can imagine you're 15 years old and you say to your parents, I want to be Mr. Universe. Of course they're going to say, well, you're sick, my child. Let's go to the doctor. So they didn't believe in that dream at all, nor did anyone else as far as that goes because there was no one in Austria. Bodybuilding was an American sport, so there was no one in Austria that ever won any competition, any kind of Mr. Europe or Mr. Universe. So how did you start actually bodybuilding in the small town that you grew up?

22:55Like if nobody else was doing it, how did you even think of it as a possibility? were you just extra strong as a kid and like it just came to you naturally like no i met a guy that was actually mr universe mr austria uh he was a bodybuilder there was a lake where i grew up and he came down to that lake so that's where i met him and he brought me to that weightlifting gym it was not a bodybuilding gym it was a weightlifting gym so i became part of uh the weightlifting team uh as a matter of fact with a year after working out they made me be part of it And we started competing against other towns and villages in weightlifting competition.

23:33And so that was the main thing we did was lifting heavyweights and doing Olympic lifting. And then at the same time, I used that time to do chin-ups and to do some curls and some body parts to build my body also at the same time. But I was doing weightlifting, powerlifting, and bodybuilding at the same time. So this is how, but the equipment was very crude. It was very simple. Only when I moved to Munich with the age of 19, I had a really well-equipped gym there. And that's when I really started exploding. I mean, my body started growing really fast. Sean, you met a well-equipped gym the other, right?

24:12A couple of years ago. Yeah, we didn't get a lot. Was his name James? Well, James, but he went by Jim. Jimmy. Jimmy sometimes. He was well-equipped. Hey, let me ask you, Arnold. Arnold, did you, did you, um, you, you, I want to, sorry, I just, I was thinking about all the films that you've done. I was thinking about all the iconic roles, but it's certainly, and how much we get, we get in, people like will stop and, you know, people who are fans of stuff will stop you and say like something from your movie. And I think about how many times over the years I've personally said, or heard people say the expression, I'll be back.

24:46I can't imagine how many times you've been at a restaurant or somewhere where somebody has gone like you've gone like hey can i get a cup of coffee and they sure and they look back and they go i'll be back and like i mean it must have happened a million times right well it's really wild because i go sometimes to an event yeah and people will be screaming out get to the chopper yeah which is a line from predator yeah or put the cookie down you know lines from the movie it's just it's just wild i mean but you're right. It's funny hearing you do you. Wait, put the cookie down? What was put the cookie down?

25:24It was from Jingle all the way. So people repeat those lines and the funny thing is when you read it in the script it doesn't read like anything like a special line but just because the way I say it get to the chopper so then the director comes and he says it's not chopper Arnold it's chopper it has an R on the end I said, no, get to the chopper. You know, so I say everything wrong. And so people think that's funny and then they repeat the lines. But your accent is just so beautiful. It's just so iconic. And I'm so glad that it has stayed, that it hasn't been like beaten out of you by living in Southern California too long, you know.

26:03It's just I could listen to you all day. Well, thank you. You ran, you've run so many things at such a high level. Yeah. Sets, you know, our state. What are you enjoying pointing all of those incredible leadership skills at now that some people may know about, some people might not know about? But obviously your skill set is huge. Are you enjoying pointing it at something right now? Are you enjoying letting it rest for a minute? No, no. Look, I was very fortunate to be involved in all those different careers. And I learned so much in bodybuilding and how to be competitive and all that. I learned so much in show business.

26:51It just has been a most extraordinary ride to, you know, work on all those movies and to work with such great directors. and then to go into politics and to get into becoming governor of the great state of California and to sit there at the Capitol and to learn every day something new. I mean, it's absolutely... You have to imagine that when you go in there as an actor, I mean, I've never done policy, I've never gotten into the details, the new details of policy, but now you're sitting there and now all of a sudden you have meetings from 9 o 'clock on in the morning and you sit there and all of a sudden the nurses' union comes in and they talk about the 4 to 1 ratio versus the 6 to 1 ratio.

27:39And you say to yourself, what are they talking about? So you don't even know. So then afterwards you have to have the briefings and all that stuff so you can come back and then continue that meeting later on. And then the prison guard union will come in and they will talk about their problems. Then the teachers' union comes in talks about their problem. Then healthcare advocates come in and all the folks come in. Indian gaming tribes come in and they talk about their issues and stuff. So it's like, it's literally, like I said, it's a university, the capital. And I have learned stuff there in the seven years that you would never learn in any university.

28:20Nowhere can they teach you that, you know, how to craft policy. So anybody listening should try to be a governor right now. I mean, I tell you, it's quite a challenge. But it was the most pleasurable thing to serve 40 million people and to be in charge of the fifth largest economy in the world. I mean, it really was extraordinary. And it wasn't easy. It was very, very tough. It was very tough on my family also because, you know, you promise to your family that you are the most important thing. But then when you become governor, then you promise to the California people that they're the most important thing.