Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Obsessed with Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven – The Story Behind His Love for the Film

Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of Hollywood’s most enduring action stars, has long credited Clint Eastwood as a major influence on his career. Known for his towering physique, unforgettable catchphrases, and decades-long dominance at the box office, Schwarzenegger grew up admiring Eastwood’s work long before he became a household name himself.

“Clint is an idol of mine,” Schwarzenegger told Rotten Tomatoes in a recent interview. “I always idolised him since before I came over to America. I loved his western movies and followed his career very closely, then became friends with him and really admired him.” Schwarzenegger praised Eastwood not just for his on-screen performances, but for his versatility as a filmmaker: “Tremendously skilled as a producer, as a director, the music he does for his movies, the acting, the directing—I mean everything. So he’s really a very solid guy. He developed into a kind of real genius.”

When asked to name his five favorite films, Schwarzenegger couldn’t stick to just five—he ended up listing six. Among them was Eastwood’s 1992 neo-western Unforgiven, a film that went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture and earned Eastwood the Best Director Academy Award. Rather than selecting one of Eastwood’s classic ’60s westerns, Schwarzenegger chose this later masterpiece, a gritty and reflective tale of a retired gunslinger reluctantly returning to violence.

Unforgiven clearly struck a chord with Schwarzenegger, who appreciated Eastwood’s layered portrayal of Will Munny, a deeply flawed character haunted by his past. The film’s raw, unvarnished look at the mythos of the Old West and its exploration of morality and redemption resonated not only with critics and audiences, but also with Schwarzenegger himself.

While Schwarzenegger never got the chance to star in a project that paralleled Unforgiven, he admired how the film represented a departure from traditional action tropes. In fact, when there was talk of a new Conan the Barbarian film in the 2010s, rumors hinted that the sequel would feature an older Conan coming out of retirement, directly inspired by the narrative structure of Unforgiven. Though that sequel never materialized, Schwarzenegger’s reverence for Eastwood’s storytelling remains evident.

Over the years, Schwarzenegger has also spoken about how Eastwood’s In the Line of Fire influenced his own return to acting after his stint as Governor of California, underscoring the profound impact Eastwood has had on his creative decisions.

Despite their mutual respect and parallel careers, Schwarzenegger and Eastwood have yet to share the screen. For now, fans can only hope that these two cinematic icons might one day appear together, bringing their unique strengths to a project that would be nothing short of legendary. Until then, Schwarzenegger’s admiration for Eastwood—and his love for Unforgiven—serves as a testament to the timelessness of Eastwood’s work.