Everyone loves a hero; Arnold is ours and we hope he takes on more superhero or super villain movie roles. I suppose we can consider his Terminator character a superhero since it does have super-strength and it is often a protector. Today is National Superhero Day, and we have some interviews here with some past and present film and television stars who are no strangers to box office muscle. Sometimes we’ll interview celebrities who aren’t always a part of Arnold’s film universe but since Arnold is a man of iron, let’s bring out Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr, as well as Daredevil’s Rosario Dawson and Gotham’s Zabryna Guevara.
Celebrating the release of The Avengers 2, we thought we’d share this quick little chat we had with Robert Downey Jr (IronMan). We asked Robert about his time in the gym and if he has fitness role models.
“Hehe, I tend to do a lot of strength training for the Marvel pictures,” Downey Jr tells TheArnoldFans. “But more just to not look like Olive Oyl next to all of the other studs. I wouldn't know that I have any? I do have a great trainer, named Brad Bose, a great martial arts instructor named Eric Oram, and I also train with the Tracy Anderson system. But that's more Susan's (my wife’s) field of expertise.”
We also asked Rosario Dawson about a Superhero she’d like to play someday. Rosario is currently on the NetFlix hit DareDevil and she’s also performed the voice of Wonder Woman in a cartoon.
“Um, I've always wanted to do some really fun cool superhero stuff,” Dawson tells TAFs. “I'm obsessed. I grew up being obsessed with Wonder Woman, we call my mom that because she's a super amazon, so when I did the first voice for Artemis, I was excited to be so close to it, and now that I've voiced her for 2 projects that's been amazing. So I feel I get to kick that off my bucket list, being able to voice her is pretty exciting. My family calls me "She-Hulk" when I get upset, so I think that would be fun. But there are multiple characters that are really cool. I'm a cape person. I do like those types of characters. So we'll see, maybe someday down the line. It was really fun to work on a Marvel miniseries for Daredevil, so we'll see! I'm getting closer and closer.”
Marvel’s Stan Lee even stepped in to give TheArnoldFans an exclusive Schwarzenegger comment.
"I don’t want to sound like a sycophant,” begins Lee, "but there hasn’t been a Schwarzenegger movie that I didn’t totally enjoy. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think the Terminator movies have to be at the top of my list, and as for humor, I can’t remember seeing a funnier feature film than Twins."
Finally, Zabryna Guevara, who has roles in X-Men: Days of Future’s Past and TV’s Gotham (Sarah Essen, James Gordon’s partner), tells us she’s a huge Terminator fan! We learned this from Zabryna when we asked her which summer film she’s looking to most this year.
“So I just found out there's a Terminator movie coming out this summer," Zabryna begins. “I'm a HUGE Terminator fan, so I have to go see that. I'm not up-to-date with films that have already come out, with 2 young kids at home, so I'm hoping to catch up on the films that I haven't seen yet, that have ALREADY left the theaters.... as well as catching up on some of the Broadway & Off-Broadway shows that I haven't had time to see yet!”
Happy with Zabryna’s Terminator answer, I then confess I’m with Arnold’s fanclub and ask what she thinks of Arnold coming back as the title character in his mid 60s.
“I love it,” Zabryna tells us. “I saw the end of the trailer, and my heart just about leapt out of my chest. I really love that series of movies. And Arnold coming back in his 60s to do this Terminator, I think they'll find a way to justify it, and his change as a Terminator - or not - he's a robot! He's traveling through time. I didn't need any coaxing to buy it when I saw the trailer, so I don't think they'll have to work too hard to sell it to me for the movie.”
Zabryna is taking a little break from the gym these days but does look up to her physically fit Gotham costar.
“I have 2 small children and it's hard for me to make the time for exercise these days,” says Zabryna. Lately I've been doing videos at home, by Tracy Anderson and Julie Tupler, because they helped me get back in shape after the second pregnancy... Jada Pinkett-Smith has been my role model. She is incredibly in-shape, and she has several children, and she manages it all incredibly well. So I've been looking up to her quite a bit.”
Zabryna has had roles in superhero TV and film projects but she’s not yet played a superhero. TheArnoldFans asked her if she could chose to be a famous superhero or super villain, who would it be?
“I haven't decided who I want to be yet,” Zabryna tells us. “So far, the ones I've been the most excited about are the male superheroes, so I haven't chosen a female counterpart to play. But I hope to narrow it down very soon!”
In other words, she’ll be back!