Arnold Schwarzenegger was told he’d ‘never be a leading man’ because of his accent. He’s in on the joke with new Super Bowl ad.

Arnold Schwarzenegger holds many titles — Mr. Universe, former governor of California, field workplace star — and now he could be seen in one of many buzziest Tremendous Bowl commercials come Sunday as he is teamed up with State Farm for a brand new motion “film.”

“I do not like to simply do any industrial. The cash’s nice, however I’ve loads of cash, so I am not fearful about that. It must be natural,” Schwarzenegger tells Yahoo Leisure.

The 90-second prolonged industrial, beneath, is titled “Like A Good Neighbaaa” and pokes enjoyable at Schwarzenegger’s accent as he tries unsuccessfully to completely ship the insurance coverage firm’s tagline. (“Like a great neighbor, State Farm is there.”) However after greater than 50 years within the business, the Fubar star is in on the joke.

“[The commercial] is humorous, however it is usually humorous for me personally. Within the ’70s once I acquired into films, individuals stated, You’ll by no means be a number one man as a result of you have got an accent,” Schwarzenegger recollects, explaining he was informed Individuals want acton stars to be like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. “Right here we’re a long time later. So a lot of my film traces grew to become so fashionable due to the way in which I pronounce issues. This industrial performs off that, and I laughed my head off once I learn it.”

Numerous issues have modified since Schwarzenegger dominated the motion style years in the past. When requested to present a state of the union, of kinds, on at this time’s motion stars, Schwarzenegger says he is “very proud.”

“What’s modified a lot is that once I came to visit to this nation, motion stars weren’t recognized to seem like motion stars. They have been robust guys inevitably, they usually acted rather well. However at this time issues have actually modified,” he says.

Schwarzenegger says when he, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme took over the style within the ’80s, audiences shifted their expectations of what motion stars ought to seem like. He believes that also holds true at this time.

“This is the reason you see guys just like the Rock, Jason Momoa and Reacher‘s [Alan Ritchson] — it is huge the way in which these guys look now, how massive they’re and the way muscular they’re. In my day once I did Conan, they could not even discover a stunt man to double me,” Schwarzenegger laughs. “Now, this has all modified.”

Schwarzenegger says he is “actually pleased with all the brand new guys which have turn out to be massive stars.” Not solely do they appear the half, however “the performing is de facto nice — the way in which they transfer throughout the battle scenes is unbelievable.” The actor singles out Momoa as somebody he’d “love” to work with.

“He is a terrific actor. He’s very properly appreciated locally as a result of he is straightforward to work with and a really collaborative particular person,” Schwarzenegger continues. “He is considered one of [the greatest], if not the best, motion star now. He picks good tasks. I might like to work with him. I might love to simply meet him one time as a result of now we have by no means met earlier than.”

Schwarzenegger’s motion days aren’t behind him, clearly judging from his new Tremendous Bowl spot. “I simply liked the concept they needed to do an enormous motion film with explosions and every part,” he provides.

As for whether or not Schwarzenegger appears like he is compelled to root for fellow State Farm spokesmen Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce on Sunday, he smiles and says he is by no means “compelled to do something.”

“Being from California, I perhaps need to watch [the 49ers] win,” he declares.

Watch the Chiefs and 49ers go face to face on the Tremendous Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11 on CBS/Nickelodeon, or stream it on Paramount+.