"I didn't get paid anything": Arnold Schwarzenegger made this movie for free to prove he was more than just an action star.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger , known for hits like Terminator or Predator , agreed not to charge a single dollar to star in one of his films. He did so with a clear objective: to prove that he could also succeed in comedy, distancing himself from his image as a muscular, unbeatable hero .

During a conversation with his son, Patrick Schwarzenegger , published by Variety , the former governor of California revealed that he made a risky decision to break free from being typecast. "I was offered to do a comedy, but no one wanted to finance it if I was in the cast," he recalled.

Faced with this rejection, he proposed an unusual deal: " Why don't we do it for free? Danny DeVito , Ivan Reitman, and I agreed to forgo a salary." Their salaries would be reserved for the film's production, and in return, they negotiated a percentage of the box office profits, which would prove to be a masterstroke.

The first of many comedies

Released in 1988, Twins Strike Twice was a resounding success. With a modest budget of $16.5 million, it grossed over $200 million worldwide. "It was the best deal we ever made," Schwarzenegger admitted. That decision not only boosted his earnings thanks to subsequent rights, but also opened the door to other comedy titles like Kindergarten Cop and The Parent Trap .

The actor revealed that this step was key to breaking away from his "action star" label and expanding his acting career. "The more people I killed on screen, the more the studios made, so they didn't want to change that," he confessed. But thanks to Twins Strike Twice, he managed to transform his public image .

Schwarzenegger himself jokes that the only thing he was missing was to do Shakespeare , but that move allowed him to show another side as an actor and build a much more versatile career than many imagined when they first saw him as Conan the Barbarian .