LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13, 2000 — The first time Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived at the premiere for his latest actioner, “The 6th Day,” he pulled up in a limousine and emerged in a black suit with wife Maria Shriver.
Waving to fans who lined the streets outside the Mann National Theatre in Westwood section of Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger excitedly discussed the film in which he plays a futuristic man who is mistakenly cloned and fights to get his life back.
“I was the producer, so I was very tough with myself,” Schwarzenegger joked of his dual role. “I sat down with myself and I wanted to negotiate two salaries. If I’m in there twice, I should get two salaries. But the producer side of me said no.”
The film’s cast, which includes Robert Duvall, Wendy Crewson, Sarah Wynter, Michael Rooker and director Roger Spottiswoode, assembled on the red carpet and gushed about working with Ah-nuld.
“[The cast] gave us all sorts of different flavors,” Spottiswoode said. “They’re all different kinds of actors, and they worked together very well. But it changed the film; it freed the film up, made it a different kind of Arnold film.”
According to his co-stars, Schwarzenegger proved to be generous on the set, particularly with the co-stars he had to battle.
“He kept saying ‘harder, bite harder, hit harder,'” Wynter said of her fight scenes. “I bit his hand at one point; I had like an Arnold sandwich. He has a big hand, too.”
Also arriving for the premiere were Rob Reiner, Christian Slater, model Heidi Klum, Casper Van Dien, Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson, Bill Bellamy and others.
But as all guests filed in and the movie began, a bright yellow Hummer screeched up to the red carpet, and who should emerge but Schwarzenegger again, this time alone and dressed in a brown leather jacket and jeans.
“I’m the real Arnold!” he told baffled reporters. “That guy in there is a clone!”
Now that’s a battle we’d like to see up close. But in the meantime, you can check our Arnold vs. Arnold onscreen in “The 6th Day,” opening Nov. 17.
