Alongside George Clooney, 1997’s “Batman & Robin” starred Alicia Silverstone, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, and naturally, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze. The motion legend was taking pictures “Eraser” when he stated Warner Bros. “begged” him to play the central villain in “Batman & Robin.” Arnie’s casting really induced a full rewrite of the Mr. Freeze character, which noticed a lot of the Shakespearean-style language lower in favor of dialogue extra befitting the Austrian Oak’s distinctive cadence (largely horrible ice puns).
Curiously, Schwarzenegger is likely one of the solely folks concerned who has no regrets about his position in “Batman & Robin.” That most likely has to do with the unwavering self-confidence that made him the largest film star on the planet, but it surely may additionally need to do with how a lot enjoyable the man was having on set.
Since transitioning to Hollywood following the success of the bodybuilding docudrama “Pumping Iron,” Arnie has been recognized for his laid-back, affable demeanor on units. Again within the mid-’80s, his “Predator” co-star Sonny Landham spoke about how, “a star just isn’t solely to promote tickets, he is received to take command of the set and be a frontrunner.” And in response to the opposite actors on that movie, Schwarzenegger not solely took command of the set, however he additionally stored issues light-hearted and enjoyable. As actor Shane Black put it, “He is very open, he is very accessible, and he is plenty of enjoyable. He sits there chomping a cigar, he tells jokes.” The truth is, the script needed to embrace cigars exactly as a result of Arnie could not quit smoking his signature stogies, which might nonetheless be in proof by the point he began work on “Batman & Robin,” — a movie that took his light-hearted method to being on-set to the acute.
