Arnold craves 'impact,' on screen and off

He has killed more than 400 people in his three-decade film career, but don't look for Arnold Schwarzenegger to do much "terminating" in his latest turn as world's most recognizable cyborg.
 
There's no stopping Arnold in T3. 
 

He blows up buildings, crushes cars and throws punches aplenty at his computerized doppelgänger in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, now in theaters. He goes out of his way, however, not to offend the human populace.

If that sounds diplomatic for an R-rated film, Schwarzenegger, 55, may simply be tuning up for his next career move. The Republican says he is routinely approached by party leaders about a possible run for governor of California, and he might be ready to take a shot at the state's highest office.

"If the Republican Party in California needs me, and that becomes very clear, then I will do it," he says over a breakfast of oatmeal and sliced banana.

"The bottom line is, if I'm needed, I'm there."

Governor Schwarzenegger may not be so far-fetched. Consider: Schwarzenegger was a skinny kid in Austria when he decided to take up bodybuilding at 14. Six years later, he became the youngest Mr. Universe. When he saw former muscleman Reg Park star in a Hercules movie, Schwarzenegger decided to make the jump to acting. His movies have taken in $2 billion worldwide.

And given California's history of actors turned politicians, from Ronald Reagan to Clint Eastwood, politics may be a natural next step.

Not that Schwarzenegger's plate isn't full already. In addition to T3, he is working on a remake of the 1973 Yul Brynner classic Westworld. His Inner City Games Foundation, which provides after-school activities, serves 250,000 children in 15 cities.

Last year he wrote and campaigned for Prop. 49, a ballot initiative requiring state grants to every California elementary and middle school for after-school programs. It won with 56% of the vote, fueling speculation that Schwarzenegger's next mission might have nothing to do with killer robots.

"I don't like to hang" around, Schwarzenegger says. "I like to add on. I want to accomplish things and have an impact."

If he does make a run at the office, which is now embroiled in a recall effort of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger's work ethic won't be a problem, T3 director Jonathan Mostow says.

Any concerns that Schwarzenegger would fail to look the same as he did in Terminator 2 more than a decade ago vanished when the star emerged from his trailer the first night of shooting in his character's trademark sunglasses and leather jacket.

"When we started filming, Arnold was the exact same dimension that he was when he did T2," Mostow says. "That's not special effects. That's just old-fashioned working out."

Things have been working out for Schwarzenegger since he came to the USA in 1968 after his crowning as Mr. Universe. He appeared in his first film, Hercules in New York, in 1970 and has since carved a three-fold career of film, political activism and family life.

And though he says he spends more time as a father to his four children and a husband to TV anchorwoman Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger says it was never a question whether he would do another Terminator film.

"I have never done an interview, whether I was here or in Africa or China promoting a Special Olympics, where the first question wasn't, 'When are you going to do another Terminator? When are you going to be back?' "

Getting back wasn't easy. Carolco Pictures, which produced the first two Terminator films, filed for bankruptcy in 1995, leaving filmmakers scrambling to secure the rights to the franchise. But Schwarzenegger says he wasn't concerned about the delay.

Since Terminator 2's release in 1991, "there has been a huge campaign by the fans demanding more Terminator," he says. "As long as we took the time to make the movie right, I wasn't worried about doing another one."

Although the conclusion of Terminator 3 sets up the potential for a sequel and analysts consider the film the last sure-fire blockbuster of summer, Schwarzenegger refuses to discuss another installment of a franchise that has already taken in more than $600 million worldwide.

"Let the audience be the one that pushes for another movie, instead of us," he says.

He is equally vague about his off-screen future. Schwarzenegger concedes he has fulfilled nearly all of his dreams since coming to California, requiring him "to replace the old dreams with new ones."

Which are?

"To excel at everything I do," he says. "To continue having a great career and a great family."

He pauses and grins slightly.

"And to be very active politically."