How Ivan Reitman turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into a comedy star

At six-foot-two, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a big boy.

When the former Mr Universe decided to move from bodybuilding into acting, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that his first role was the classic Greek hero Hercules in the 1970 movie Hercules in New York. He was credited under his then-stage name, Arnold Strong.

By the time Schwarzenegger broke out in Conan the Barbarian in 1982, Hollywood had a very narrow perception of him. The films that followed included Commando, The Terminator, Predator and Red Sonja.

In every movie poster, there was Arnie, bare muscles bulging, a fierce “don’t mess with me” look on his face, and brandishing a weapon be it a gun, a knife or a sword. There’s being typecast and then there’s Schwarzenegger (or Dolph Lundgren).

Then a curious thing happened. In 1988, a very different movie poster appeared. This Schwarzenegger was wearing a tan suit, had his hands in his pocket and he was smiling. There was nothing threatening about his stance or countenance.

Twins was directed by Ivan Reitman, known for a swathe of comedies but most notably Ghostbusters and Stripes. He’s never made an action movie but Reitman saw in Schwarzenegger someone who could carry a comedy alongside Danny DeVito.

Reitman understood that Schwarzenegger’s physique is what can make him funny. He weaponised the perception everyone had and turned it into a joke.

When Reitman died in 2022, Schwarzenegger wrote as a tribute, “If you knew him, Ivan had a way of making himself part of your story, and he certainly wrote a chunk of mine.

“I’ll always be grateful that he took a chance on this Austrian action hero in a comedy during a time when the studios just wanted me to focus on finding new ways to kill bad guys, blow things up and show off some muscles.

“I knew I could make it in comedy, but I needed someone else to know it to make it a reality. That’s why Ivan was a great director and friend: he could see something in you that other people didn’t, and he could help show the rest of the world.”

In Twins, Schwarzenegger and DeVito are fraternal twins born as a result of a genetics experiment. Schwarzenegger’s Julius grew up in paradise and is a pretty happy guy who has faced few challenges. DeVito’s Vincent is a brash hustler, having developed a strong survival instinct after growing up in a nunnery.

When they learn of each other’s existence, it’s Julius who’s the smiley, chill guy always advocating for a non-violent solution. Having the Conan, Terminator and Commando guy play this model of this sweet, pacifist character dialled up the funnies.

Reitman knew exactly how to direct Schwarzenegger to bring out his tender side, and married the specific rhythms of his accent and speech to his comedic timing.

Twins was a huge success. It made 10 times its budget and showed that Schwarzenegger was more than just a glowering mass of muscles.

The film was the first of a trilogy between Schwarzenegger and Reitman, and Kindergarten Cop followed not long after.

The 1990 movie walked a more delicate tightrope in exploiting the action star by introducing him as Detective John Kimble, a long coat-wearing tough LA police officer trying to take down a drug kingpin.

The trick here is to take viewers on the journey of following the familiar tropes of Kimble the cop and thawing him out when he has to go undercover as the substitute teacher of a class of five-year-olds to flush out the crime lord’s son who has no idea who his dad is.

Again, Reitman makes the most of Schwarzenegger’s physicality, a soaring figure surrounded by ankle biters and teeny tiny kids’ furniture. Everything around him is small, and he tries to discipline the kids as if he’s the psycho drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket.

It doesn’t work, of course, and Kimble has to find a new way to relate to the kindergartners. It’s so cute. He changes them, they change him, you know how it goes. There’s a ferret.

It was another four years before Schwarzenegger and Reitman reunited, this time with DeVito back in the fold.

In Junior, Schwarzenegger plays a geneticist who impregnates himself with an ovum and becomes pregnant with Emma Thompson’s baby. When Schwarzenegger’s character tries to pass himself as a woman at a retreat for expectant mothers, part of the comedy is he is, realistically, not fooling anyone.

Commercially and critically, Junior was the least successful of the trilogy but it has value as the one with a high level of farce and broad comedy. As much as Schwarzenegger can play the tough action hero, he can also be a lovable goof.

Before Reitman’s death two years ago, Schwarzenegger and DeVito had been working with the filmmaker on a sequel to Twins, tentatively titled Triplets. After Reitman died, Schwarzenegger revealed the director’s son, Jason Reitman (the filmmaker who made Juno and Up in the Air but had a cameo as an awkward teen in Kindergarten Cop), killed the project.

“Making Twins, Junior and Kindergarten Cop with Ivan was heaven for me. Spending the last few years working with him on Triplets, and once again seeing his passion and genius up close, was a joy,” Schwarzenegger after Reitman’s death.

The three films are not Oscar winners by any stretch, but they are of a specific time. It was an unexpected match-up between director and actor, but it’s one that left us with three nostalgic gems.

Twins and Kindergarten Cop are streaming on Paramount+, Junior is available on digital rental platforms