Jamie Lee Curtis Explains Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Didn't Want Her To Join TRUE LIES

It turns out that Arnold Schwarzenegger initially did not want Jamie Lee Curtis to play his wife in James Cameron’s classic action comedy True Lies. The two were awesome together in the film and they both had great on-screen chemistry.

Curtis said in an interview with Yahoo! that making this movie is her all-time favorite filming experience. As you know the film included her famous striptease and some exciting stunt work, which involved her hanging from a helicopter.

So, why didn’t Arnold want her on board the project? Well, I’ll let Curtis explain:

“Arnold knew me as Tony's daughter. He only knew me as Tony's daughter. He loved Tony Curtis. So I'm sure Arnold just looked at me like it'd be like kissing your niece or something ... I guarantee, in fact, he did not want me to be in that movie. I think he just thought it would be weird. We knew each other a little bit socially. I just don't think he thought of me as his leading lady. I think he thought of me as Tony's little girl. And it was Jim who said, ‘No, I've written this for her. She's the one to do this with you.’"

Curtis went on to share that Schwarzenegger ultimately made up for his resistance to her casting with “the greatest gift.” He supported her name going (along with his) before the title in the film’s opening credits.

Tony Curtis and Schwarzenegger worked together on a 1992 TV movie titled Christmas in Connecticut, which was the one and only movie that Schwarzenegger ever directed. Curtis starred in the film.

Luckily for Jaimie Lee Curtis, Cameron didn’t let Arnold talk him out of casting her, because she was so damn great in that movie!