Arnold’s Schwarzenegger’s term as the governor of California is one of the weirder things that’s happened in the Hollywood-politics crossover realm. What’s weirder is that he’s actually been a success—even whiny liberals like me haven’t been complaining about him too much. Now the Governator is going to add another weird chapter to his career by possibly following up his governorship with a return to movies.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Past Deadline blog is floating the rumor, and it really doesn’t sound so crazy to them. As they point out, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone have both done well in the past year by making action movies (Live Free or Die Hard and Rocky Balboa) and not letting the refrains of “You’re too old for this!” get to them. And Schwarzenegger has remained a popular figure throughout his stint in the governor’s mansion, not enmeshed in any political scandals or bad policy. Of course, he still has three years to go, so anything can happen.
When Past Deadline called up Schwarzenegger’s PR rep, he gave a great quote: "Once the governor's current term is up, he may go back to the movies, or devote energy to business, or continue working on environmental issues, or run a foundation -- or start painting!" He continued, "But the governor has decided nothing final as yet and is devoting his energy to the job of running the state." The blog pointed out that he hadn’t mentioned any political pursuits in that list.
As much as I like entertaining the idea of Schwarzenegger taking up painting, or gardening, or shuffleboard, I think his return to movies may be inevitable. And maybe not all that unwelcome? Maybe he’ll be like Al Gore, making constant cameos but never appearing entirely comfortable on screen, but Schwarzenegger was a real-deal movie star for a while there. At least he’s further proof that there really are plenty of second, third and fourth acts in America.
