But even the most intimidating among them become deferential in the presence of the film’s charismatic breakout star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the sport’s highest competition, Mr. Butler, who died in October, 2021, worked with Gaines to make the case for bodybuilding as an underappreciated art form-one that incorporates elements of classical sculpture and dance.īutler and Gaines’s journalistic coverage of the world of bodybuilding led to the 1974 photo book “ Pumping Iron” and a 1977 documentary of the same name, both of which document the sport’s strange and endearing main characters: among others, there is Mike Katz, a gentle teacher and father with an air of diffident sadness that bullies find irresistible Franco Columbu, a docile, but self-assured, former boxing champion from a tiny Italian village and the best bodybuilder under two hundred pounds and Lou Ferrigno, who would go on to play the Incredible Hulk on TV-a massive and slightly bewildered up-and-comer, shepherded through training and competitions by his overbearing father. At the time, the sport was widely denigrated, considered an extreme and unsavory activity for homosexuals and freaks. We got there.In the seventies, the photographer George Butler and a collaborator, the journalist Charles Gaines, looking for as yet uncovered subcultures to document for the magazine-reading public, began hanging around with bodybuilders. It's why I go see his mini donkey and mini horse every morning before we started. It's why I did the interviews at his house, where he's comfortable. "There's a shift in him when he's talking sincerely and relaxing. "That's why I did so many conversations on FaceTime and audio-only interviews," she said. He would sit down and look at me with the cameras and go, 'Okay, what do you want to know?' He has this sense of humor that I think more than anything carries him through life."īut after spotlighting a man who lives in his own mythology - most of the interviews are done in his home where he is surrounded by movie memorabilia from his biggest hits, and he even reflects on his life while leafing through a giant book containing pictures of himself (which will actually be published soon by Taschen) - does she believe she ever met the real Arnold Schwarzenegger? "He doesn't want to be the only person having fun. It's a process and he was very willing, but he wants other people to have fun as well," Chilcott said. "When you do a documentary, you have to earn a person's trust in order for them to go certain places. Especially with someone like Arnold who spreads his catchphrases in a way that they can't be stopped." To get Schwarzenegger to stay on topic, Chilcott would 'keep asking the question until he gave a real answer'Īlong with celebrating Schwarzenegger's triumphs, Chilcott said she wanted the docuseries to convey to viewers the hard work and determination he put into making his vision of becoming a success a reality.Ĭhilcott commends Schwarzenegger for keeping his word to agree to talk about any topic that came up in their conversations.Īrnold Schwarzenegger filming in his childhood home in "Arnold." "That's a delicious mystery for a filmmaker to kind of unpack. "A friend of his put it best: Arnold sees around corners and I still don't know if he's following things or predicting things or setting things," Chilcott told Insider on the aura that surrounds Schwarzenegger. Olympia seven times.īroken up into three chapters - "Athlete," "Actor," and "American" - Chilcott conducts over 40 hours of interviews with the star, stripping away the catchphrases and cigar-chomping egotism that Schwarzenegger has worn on his sleeve for decades to reveal a man who came from very humble beginnings in Austria and used an unshakable drive to conquer the world and become one of the most recognizable figures of the late 20th century. It often indicates a user profile.Īrnold Schwarzenegger won Mr. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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