Long before becoming an action movie icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a film that is now forgotten—and somewhat embarrassing. From imposed dubbing to harsh criticism, here’s a look back at a debut role that even the actor himself prefers to forget.
In the early days, Arnold Schwarzenegger was far from the blockbuster superstar we now associate with Terminator or the Expendables series. Long before his breakthrough in Conan the Barbarian, Schwarzenegger made his on-screen debut in a much more modest—and significantly less successful—project.
As noted by our colleagues at Jeuxvideo.com, Hercules in New York, released in 1970, marks Schwarzenegger’s cinematic debut. He played a version of the famous mythological hero who, tired of Olympus, decides to live among humans in New York, despite Zeus’s warnings. On paper, the concept might have seemed amusing. However, the execution was lacking, particularly due to Schwarzenegger’s performance.
A Dubbed Voice to Save the Film
The main issue was his voice. At the time, his thick Austrian accent made his lines difficult to understand for the film crew. Fearing that this would undermine the character’s credibility, the producers made a drastic decision: to completely replace his voice with that of a voice actor. Ironically, this voice actor was never credited, although it was his voice that audiences heard in theaters. Years later, a restored version finally allowed viewers to hear Schwarzenegger’s true voice, providing a more accurate representation of his original performance.
Despite this fix, the film did not escape harsh criticism. It remains one of the weakest points in his filmography, with a particularly low score of 3.3 out of 10 on IMDb – and an even lower 1.5 out of 5 in our review. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself does not hide his discomfort with this memory. In a 2017 interview, he even said, “In the film, my name was Arnold Strong. It was really stupid. At one point, I watched it again because my kids were watching it. It was very stupid.“
For the curious, Hercules in New York is available on VOD.
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A passionate journalist, Iris Lennox covers social and cultural news across the U.S.