Exclusive

How Is Arnold Schwarzenegger With a Machine Gun? "He's Badass," Says Costar

Exclusive! Find out what it was like when the former governor of California returned to movie making

By Marc Malkin May 02, 2012 11:15 PMTags
Arnold Schwarzenegger, TwitterTwitter

Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't lost any of his action star mojo.

The 64-year-old former governor of California proved he's still got it while making the upcoming The Last Stand

Schwarzenegger plays a sheriff of a small town trying to stop a drug lord from crossing the border to Mexico.

Costar Rodrigo Santoro, 36, admits Schwarzenegger's presence actually caused him to stumble a bit.

"In one scene, I had to cross the street shooting and there's a moment when Arnold looks at me and goes, 'Go! I cover you,'" Santoro told me the other night at the screening of his soccer biopic Heleno. "I look at him and it's like the frickin' Terminator telling me he is covering my ass. Of course I'm going to go.

"So I went , but the director was like, 'No! I didn't say go,'" Santoro laughed. "I couldn't help it. Arnold gave me such confidence because he's watching my back with a machine gun!"

Santoro also recalled when Schwarzenegger suffered a bloody gash to his forehead when he accidently walked into a camera.

"It happened at 11 so we broke for lunch and he went to the hospital," he remembered. "He came back after lunch with stiches and was like, 'I'm ready!' He shot the same day. He's badass!"

Meanwhile, Santoro will reprise his role as the evil Xerxes in the second 300 film, which begins shooting in July. "It's not a prequel or a sequel," Santoro said. "It's sort of like a spinoff. It's a battle happening at the same time 300 happened."

Yes, Santoro will once again have to shave his head and entire body for the part. "They're also going to try to explain a little bit how Xerxes became Xerxes," he said. "They're still working on the last draft."