Back to the future

>> Arnold Schwarzenegger on The Sixth Day, cloning technology, gay fans and keeping his audiences happy

by MATTHEW HAYS

There's something decidedly L.A. about Arnold Schwarzenegger, I think to myself, as he sits down to plug his latest film, The Sixth Day. It could be the surroundings: we're meeting in the swank Beverly Hills Four Seasons, and the massive, still-pumped 53-year-old bodybuilder-cum-actor is entirely at home amid the palm trees, bottled water, publicists and copious cell phones.

Or it could be him. His huge hands move about demonstratively as he discusses the new movie and his career. His eyes, smaller and further apart than you might expect, dart about, while his face looks like a piece of modern art. And then there's his spray-on tan.

It's easy to understand why Schwarzenegger has so often been cast in either prehistoria (the Conan movies) or futuristic sci-fi (Total Recall, the Terminator movies). His looks are otherworldly, and if I didn't know better, I'd say he was evidence of a carefully hidden scientific breakthrough (so they have come up with almost-lifelike robots, after all).

Schwarzenegger is on the future trip again--in The Sixth Day, set about three decades from now. This time the high concept behind the movie is cloning, and the star plays the poor fellow who arrives home only to find that his clone has already arrived home for his surprise birthday celebration. "From the beginning, I liked the script a lot," says Schwarzenegger, emphatically. "It's futuristic, it's a great story about a normal guy who's not really a hero, but becomes one by the end. It seemed like a great premise."

The film, directed by Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies), features some sci-fi gadgetry, futuristic flying machines (helicopters that transform into planes in mid-flight) and excessive technology run amuck. John Sayles (yes, that John Sayles) wrote a draft of the screenplay (his name didn't make its way into the final credits), and he introduced the "SimPal," a human-looking doll that talks incessantly and annoys the hell out of Schwarzenegger (it eventually takes a gunshot to the head). Then there's the RePet, a service supplied in the film whereby recently deceased pets can be identically replaced through the power of cloning. These gags, along with the protagonist's central identity crisis, make The Sixth Day feel an awful lot like warmed-up leftovers from Total Recall, Schwarzenegger's hit from '90 (and Spotiswoode is no Paul Verhoeven).

Which begs the question: is Schwarzenegger worried that fans will think The Sixth Day is a total recall of Total Recall? His response implies he's already pondered the question. "It's a totally different story, totally different time, totally different planet. It's quite different. But I think that if people think that it has the look or feel of Total Recall, that will be a plus. Because that was a really successful movie, it made $280-million worldwide. People like seeing me in futuristic movies."

Cloning films

The Sixth Day, insists Schwarzenegger, also has a basic speculative techno-premise which will fascinate fans. Not to disappoint, the actor expounds on his weighty opinions on the ethics of cloning. "I'm not as worried as some people are. I think that cloning is okay. I think the issue is for the lawmakers to protect people from misuse, as much as it is for nuclear weapons or the Internet." The concept of eugenics--using cloning technology to create a superior breed of human--is raised in the film, but is an "entirely different issue," says the big one. "That's the misuse we're talking about. I don't think cloning necessarily has to do with genetic engineering. I'm thinking more along the lines of if someone has an inoperable tumour, and using DNA to create another organ."

The cloning does allow for some Schwarzenegger-style humour. At one point, his corporate nemesis, a Bill Gates-like trillionaire who's misuing the cloning technology, collapses on top of his own clone. Schwarzenegger looks down on the two of them, in a suggestive pose. "When I told you to go fuck yourself, I didn't mean for you to take it literally!" Touché, Arnold!

Repetition might be something some actors would worry about. But not Schwarzenegger. Though his last film, End of Days, did only moderate box office (by action-pic standards) in North America ($68-million U.S.), it earned another $200-million (U.S.) worldwide, where audiences still lap up all things Arnold. So don't worry that his star it fading, that's just the view from here. He knows what he's worth, still commanding $20-million (U.S.) per project.

Me make big movie

And he still thinks big. Mighty big. When he first came on board for Sixth Day, his initial sense was that, at an estimated budget of $30-million (U.S.), things were just a wee bit too small. "A movie like that will only make $30-million. I couldn't go into the project thinking it could only earn that. I have to go in thinking it's a hit. I think you always want to go into the project thinking it'll be huge. Let's give it some futuristic gadgets. People love to look at it." The final price tag for Sixth Day? $90 million (U.S.), even with the cost-cutting measure of filming in Vancouver.

The same old thing doesn't seem to haunt the man of meat, but you'd think it might, at 53. The others in his elite club--Gibson, Willis and Stallone--have all pursued more serious acting projects beyond their action-packed onscreen poses. Stallone, for example, got some positive critical notices with his turn in Cop Land three years ago. Does Schwarzenegger ever consider tackling a non-ironic role?

"I would never have done Cop Land, no. I want to do movies that are entertaining. I don't want someone to sit there depressed for the whole movie, just so I can get some gratification. I've done my comedies, I've done my futuristic movies, and I want to be very much in touch with the people out there who choose the movies they like. They've been very successful, why not continue doing them?" Yes, he confirms, he will return to reprise the role that is undoubtedly his most famous, in the robot persona that, amazingly enough, was first envisioned with O.J. Simpson in mind. The Terminator 3 has a green light and is currently being rewritten, but will not be helmed by James Cameron.

Hanging right

One cannot help, while sitting across from Schwarzenegger, but think of his conservative politics. His sharp, Aryan features, his worship of the body (he's admitted in interviews to having used steroids during his bodybuilding career), his stumping for Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr. and the rumours of fascist leanings which followed him around for years. He confirms that he does support Gov. Bush over Vice President Gore in the current (extended) election. "I hope Bush wins, but if he doesn't I don't think the whole world will come to an end. They're both capable. It's just in my philosophic beliefs, I feel that Washington can't run the entire country--I think the power should come from local and state governments. I think coming from a socialist country I always despised that there is one city that thinks it knows what's best for everyone across the country."

On the abortion issue, Schwarzenegger says he supports a woman's right to choose (this despite the Republican party's platform, which insists abortion is wrong even in cases of rape or incest). And how does he feel about all those gay fans? "What do I care? My fans are Democrats, Republicans, gay, lesbian, black, white, old, young, woman, man--it makes no difference to me. My main objective is to entertain the world. I've never done anything to feel that any one group should be locked out. I'm the most tolerant person in the world.

"I must say, I give America credit for that, because I did not come to America tolerant. I came to America prejudiced. And because of the education I got here, I learned differently. I was prejudiced generally, against anything that wasn't me. If you come from Europe where you don't have it in the teaching, it becomes quite normal. In America you learn about diversity."

The Sixth Day opens Friday, Nov. 17