‘I was made in America’, says Arnold Schwarzenegger
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger insists he's not a "self-made man".
Arnold Schwarzenegger was "made in America".
The 75-year-old movie star admits he's not a "self-made man" and that he has lots of people to thank for his success.
Arnold – born in Austria but moved to the US to pursue a career in bodybuilding – told Interview magazine: "I always said you can call me anything you want, but don’t call me a self-made man, because I’m not. Who made me? We can say god, or we can say my mother and my father."
The actor has received helping hands throughout his rise to stardom, and the actor believes that America gave him an opportunity to transform his life.
He retired from bodybuilding in 1980 to become a Hollywood star, and said: "People that helped me, like this guy with the radio, or in the military, or Joe Weider (the creator of the Mr Olympia bodybuilding award) who brought me to America, or (Charles) 'Wag' Bennett in London who let me stay at his house and helped me with the English language and was a judge in a Mr. Universe contest.
"I’m the last one to say, 'I’m a self-made man.' I would say I was born in Austria, made in America."
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger previously claimed that he needed to show resilience when he made the switch to the US.
Speaking to Men's Health magazine, he said: "I see it in the gym. I see guys I meet in the gym that are from Austria. They're aggressive.
"They're from Israel, they're from France, they're from Germany, from Russia, from all kinds of different places. And they find their way, because what happens when you're a foreigner is, you have the work ethic.
"You know that you have to struggle from the beginning; otherwise you wouldn't be leaving your country. If you had this wonderful, rosy atmosphere, you would not want to leave."
