Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't want to be reminded of his age on live TV — just ask Stephen Colbert
It appears that Arnold Schwarzenegger dislikes when someone brings up his age in the middle of an interview! In 2024, 'The Terminator' actor appeared in an episode of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' to talk about his self-help book titled 'Be Useful: Seven Tips for Life.' The interview had a rocky start after Stephen Colbert randomly revealed Schwarzenegger's current age in front of the studio audience. At the start of the episode, Colbert quipped, "You're 76 years old, you've had three epic careers." As per The Things, an annoyed Schwarzenegger interrupted Colbert mid-sentence and said, "Why would you even mention that?" However, Colbert had a great answer to Schwarzenegger's question. In his response, Colbert shared, "It is just even more impressive at how good you look. I'm setting you up for the compliment."
After hearing Colbert's answer, the former Governor of California had a big smile on his face and he said, "Thank you, thank you." At that point, the talk show host was able to redeem himself and get the interview back on track. Following that, Colbert told Schwarzenegger, "Setting you up with a compliment. One of the things that's always impressed me about whether it's your bodybuilding career, acting career, or political career, is how absolutely powerfully you sell whatever you're doing." Later in the episode, Schwarzenegger seemed in good spirits and candidly spoke about his book.
For the unversed, let us tell you that aging is a sensitive topic for Schwarzenegger. While making an appearance in an October 2023 episode of 'The Howard Stern Show,' the seven-time Mr. Olympia winner openly talked about the realities of aging and his concerns about his body. “I kind of smile because every day I do look in a mirror and I say, 'Yep, you suck.' Look at this body. Look at the spectral muscles that used to be firm and perky and really powerful. Now they're just hanging there.' I mean, what the hell is going on here?" Schwarzenegger shared on the episode, as per People magazine.
In the same episode, the former bodybuilder stated that the feeling of aging isn't the same for everyone, especially for those people who have never been in great shape for most of their lives. “It’s one thing to see yourself get older and more and more out of shape but most of the people have never been in shape. So what does it mean to get out of shape? When you’ve been hailed for years as this supreme body, and you have the definition and you see the veins coming down your abs, and you see veins on top of your chest and then cut, you roll the clock 50 years and you’re standing there and you don’t see that anymore," Schwarzenegger added.
The 'True Lies' actor continued, “I never, ever thought about that when I was 30 years old or 40 years old that this [was] going to happen. It just sucks." While chit-chatting with Howard Stern, Schwarzenegger also spoke about the importance of embracing the struggle and pushing through the pain to achieve your goals. "Because the more you experience the things you really don't like, the more you can grow, and the tougher you get and the more you can handle. It’s just that simple. So many young kids today kind of shy away from that," Schwarzenegger explained.