Why George Clooney Hated Arnold Schwarzenegger After Batman and Robin Flop?
As always, money is the root of all evil.
Movies and reality are often very different. While characters may be best friends on screen, the actors who play them often can't stand each other. For instance, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall had a widely publicised feud, but their respective characters on Sex and the City, Carrie and Samantha, were besties.
More often than not, money is the root cause of disagreement. Some rake in millions for the smallest roles, while others may receive meagre paychecks for leading parts. That is precisely the case for George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The two Hollywood legends appeared alongside each other in the 1997 movie Batman and Robin. Despite making almost twice its budget at the box office, the film was still regarded as a major flop. Playing one of the titular characters, specifically Batman, George Clooney had to experience the DC fans' ire first-hand. However, the actor's relationship with Schwarzenegger took an even more unpleasant turn after he pointed out how much more the famous bodybuilder-turned-actor was paid for the film than Clooney.
According to Clooney, the Terminator-turned-Governator was paid a whopping $25 million for appearing as Batman and Robin's main antagonist Mr. Freeze. In contrast, the future Mr. Ocean had to make do with a modest $3 million despite playing the lead role.
'Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together one day. But I took all the heat,' George Clooney revealed on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast.
Moreover, Arnold Schwarzenegger had significantly less screen time (and work) than Clooney. California's former governor had a twelve-hour daily contract, he spent half of that time having his makeup done and his costume adjusted. So Clooney did most of the acting and faced all the backlash from fans, while Arnie just walked off with most of the loot. It’s no wonder George ended up with a bit of a grudge against his more celebrated colleague.
Regardless of whether Schwarzenegger's pay was fair or not, the film failed to impress the target audience. Both actors are only too happy to forget they ever appeared in it, but the bad blood between them remains to this day: money talks, fan backlash walks.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.