Arnold Schwarzenegger is opening up about his “tough” childhood by the hands of his “tyrant” father.
The “Terminator” actor, 75, will discuss his military father, Gustav, in his upcoming three-part Netflix docuseries “Arnold,” which can premiere Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger, who grew up in Austria, will talk candidly about his upbringing within the limited series, which details his personal life and profession as an actor, politician and body builder.
The A-lister admitted that his father, a Nazi party official he described as a “tyrant,” may need suffered from a myriad of mental health struggles.
“He was buried underneath buildings, rubble, for 3 days, and on top of that, they lost the war,” he reportedly recalled of his father. “They went home so depressed. Austria was a rustic of broken men. I believe there have been times where my father really struggled.”
He accused Gustav of getting “schizophrenic behavior,” leaving the actor and his late brother never knowing in the event that they would get their “kind father” or the “drunk” alter ego. The siblings were forced to “earn breakfast” and even “compete against one another,” he said.
“He would scream at three within the morning and we might get up and our hearts were pounding because we knew that meant,” Schwarzenegger said. “He could, at any given time, strike my mother or go crazy. So there was this strange violence.”
The “True Lies” actor, who lost his brother, Meinhard, in a drunk driving accident, believes his sibling’s drinking problem stemmed from their “tough” upbringing.
“The brutality that was at home, the beatings that we got from our parents sometimes — all of this I believe he couldn’t sustain,” Schwarzenegger said of his brother. “He was way more delicate of an individual by nature.”
While his brother was more “fragile,” the so-called tough love was “helpful” for Schwarzenegger because he was “strong and really determined.”
“Nietzsche was right: that what doesn’t kill you’ll make you stronger,” the actor said.
But this isn’t the one bombshell the motion star will drop in his tell-all doc.
He also detailed the crushing moment he had to confess his extra-marital affair with their housekeeper, Mildred Baena — and their shared child — to his then-wife Maria Shriver. In 2011, his ex-wife confronted him about his son Joseph, born in 1997.
“I believed my heart stopped,” the previous governor of California reportedly admitted. “After which I told the reality.
“Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son,” Schwarzenegger said, revealing that Shriver “was obviously crushed by that.”
He may even delve into his experience in politics — apparently, Shriver was not thrilled that he was running for governor at first.
“She flipped out. I almost felt like she was hyperventilating,” he reportedly recalled within the docuseries, although she finally got here around to the thought.
Schwarzenegger announced his campaign in 2003 while on “The Tonight Show,” and was eventually sworn in because the thirty eighth governor of the Golden State. He served two terms before exiting office in 2011.
