Amazon tribe made James Cameron eat his words after he told Arnold Schwarzenegger 'no one would know him'

'Well, I guess I was wrong for the first time in my life'

UPDATED JUL 16, 2023

In an interview to promote his limited edition TASCHEN picture book, Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed how James Cameron joined him in Brazil in 2011 for an international summit (Photo by Joe Maher/ Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELE, CALIFORNIA: Arnold Schwarzenegger is a global supestar. However, director James Cameron was confident that an Amazon tribe would not be among his followers. The star remembered a chat with the 'Terminator' director years ago during a trip to the Amazon during an onstage conversation Wednesday, June 29, at the Academy Museum David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles.

In an interview to promote his limited edition TASCHEN picture book, Schwarzenegger revealed how Cameron — a "great friend of mine" — joined him in Brazil in 2011 for an international summit with indigenous leaders and environmental specialists. Schwarzenegger revealed that the duo flew to the Amazon and how Cameron got his 'ego bruised' by the tribe.

'No one is gonna know who you are, that I can promise you'

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attends an event marking the completion of a 4-acre solar rooftop constructed atop AltaSea's research and development facility at the Port of Los Angeles, in the San Pedro neighborhood, on April 21, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The installation will supply enough energy to power AltaSea’s 35-acre campus, the country’s biggest 'blue economy' tech hub, which is focused on clean oceans, climate resiliency, and clean energy. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Arnold said, "As we were approaching this tribe in Amazon that he knew, [Cameron] says, 'I just want you to know not to get your ego bruised because they, no one is gonna know who you are, that I can promise you.' I said, 'Well, thank you for warning me, but trust me, it's not gonna bruise my ego, don't worry about it."

After landing, however, Schwarzenegger indicated that Cameron's expectations were unrealistic. "Within a minute people were chanting: 'Arnold, Arnold, Arnold, Arnold!' And then they took me to a hut where they had actually a poster of mine inside that hut," he added. "As I was looking at this poster, this huge snake dropped down from the tree that almost killed us. I mean, a monster snake just dropped down and a wild boar was running around and it was all these animals there." He added, "It was just crazy. But I mean, Jim Cameron was like freaking out. He says, 'Well, I guess I was wrong for the first time in my life.' You know, Jim has a big ego, but in any case, that was really funny."

'So we don't know really how they get their information..'

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger walks onstage during a keynote address by Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG Oliver Zipse at CES 2023 at The Pearl concert theater at Palms Casino Resort on January 04, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs from January 5-8 and features about 3,100 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 100,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Nonetheless, Schwarzenegger credited Cameron for the tribe's recognition of him as he stepped off the plane. He said, "It was some of his movies that they saw and I was in his movies, but no one expected them because there was no television set there." He added, "So we don't know really how they get their information and how they got to see those movies or anything like that. So, I was very happy to be that recognized all over the world."

'Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go'

Of course, Schwarzenegger and Cameron's creative partnership stretches back to 1984's 'The Terminator' and extends all the way through 'True Lies' a decade later. Schwarzenegger said of the current concerns around AI, "Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go, And in this movie, in 'Terminator', we talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over, Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it's not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron."