Prior to becoming an action hero, marrying into one of the most influential American political families, and becoming a politician himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger started out his legendary career by flaunting his smooth, buff muscles in tiny panties as a bodybuilder.
At the age of 20, Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Universe title and would later be crowned Mr. Olympia seven times.
He's an early thirst trap legend:
While he's considered to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, his interest in the homoerotic sport first began when he laid eyes on English bodybuilder Reg Park.
Park was named Mr. Britain in 1949 and won Mr. Universe in 1951, 1958, and 1965. He also starred as mythical god Hercules in five Hollywood films and grew a large international fanbase, including a young Schwarzenegger in Austria.
It's easy to see why:
In his new Netflix documentary Arnold, Schwarzenegger reflected on his teen obsession with Park's male form and how it caused his parents to question his sexuality.
"I was so amazed by this body, I just could not get it out of my mind," the 75-year-old reveals. "The testosterone was kicking in, getting interested in girls was kicking in, everything started happening."
Hoping to emulate Park's jacked physique, Schwarzenegger began hitting the gym and pumping up his muscles. "This guy is my idol," he says in the doc. "He was my blueprint in where I wanted to go in life."
For added motivation, Schwarzenegger took to hanging up posters of Park and other scantily clad musclemen in his room and that didn't sit well with his parents. My childhood Marky Mark Calvin Klein photos can relate!
"My mother got freaked out," Schwarzenegger recalls. "She said, 'All his friends have girls above their bed. My son doesn't have one girl up here. Look at that. It's only naked men, oiled-up. Where did we go wrong?'"
Competition was in the air for these beefcakes, and modern-ish bodybuilding was born.
While his mother's reaction doesn't seem so shocking considering it was the '60s, his father's main issue with bodybuilding was the narcissism of it all.
Schwarzenegger adds: "My dad was like, 'You are looking in the mirror when you train, what is that all about? You are too into yourself. If you want to use your muscles, go chop wood.'"
Despite his parents' concerns, Schwarzenegger excelled in the sport and continued his emulation of Park by also turning bodybuilding into a successful movie career with early '80s hits like Conan the Barbarian and Terminator.
Park and Schwarzenegger would later meet and become friends. Although Park passed away in 2007, today (June 7) would have been his 95th birthday.
In addition to his infatuation with male musculature and status as a box office star, the new documentary also examines Schwarzenegger's harsh childhood under the guidance of his abusive father, the infidelity in his marriage to Maria Shriver, and accusations of groping 15 women over the course of a few decades.
It also looks into his stint as the Republican governor of California, which was a mixed bag in regards to LGBTQ+ rights. Although he blocked marriage equality in 2005, he's since evolved on issues and issued a scathing rebuke of the ex-president following the January 6th insurrection.
The three-part docuseries features interviews with some of Schwarzenegger's Hollywood friends such as former rival Sylvester Stallone, director James Cameron, and his True Lies costar Jamie Lee Curtis.
Watch the trailer for Arnold below and then stream it on Netflix now:
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