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In the documentary Netflix Schwarzenegger shows himself with a cigar in the whirlpool, among other things

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Dpa

With a cigar in the hot tub, with sunglasses on a mountain bike: In a three-part documentary series on Netflix, Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke about his career – and reported on his difficult childhood in Austria.

Schwarzenegger speaks of his father as a "bully" in the series. After the Second World War, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. "Austria was a country of broken people. There were times when our father couldn't stand it. Then he slapped us in the face, beat us with his belt." Gustav Schwarzenegger had reportedly been a member of the Nazi Party and the SA. He was wounded in Leningrad during the war, his son Arnold spoke about this in a Twitter video in March 2022.

"The older I got and the more I read about the world outside of Austria, the more I felt like I wasn't in the right place," Schwarzenegger says in the documentary. In his early 20s, he emigrated to the United States.

His dream of bodybuilding was created by the movie "Hercules conquers Atlantis" with the muscle-bound actor Reg Park. I was so amazed by the body that I couldn't get it out of my mind." He took over Park's training program, "he was kind of like my blueprint for where I wanted to go in life," Schwarzenegger says in the documentary.

Companions, friends – but not ex-wife Shriver

In addition to Schwarzenegger, companions, journalists, friends and critics also have their say in the series. Ex-wife Maria Shriver, however, does not. In 1986, Schwarzenegger had married Kennedy's niece. They have four children together, the eldest daughter is 33, the youngest son 25 years old. In 2011, shortly after their 25th wedding anniversary, they surprisingly announced their separation.

Schwarzenegger had confessed to his wife a long-concealed affair. Shriver had asked him directly in a therapy session whether he had fathered a child with the couple's housekeeper. "I thought my heart stopped, and then I told the truth," Schwarzenegger says. The affair was his biggest mistake. He had caused his family a lot of grief and that would now accompany him until the end of his life.

The documentary also looks back on allegations of sexual harassment made by several women in the Los Angeles Times in 2003 shortly before his election as California governor. Six women accused Schwarzenegger in the report of groping them.

The allegations date back to 1975. Under massive pressure, Schwarzenegger hesitantly admitted at the time that he had "misbehaved" in the past and done things that weren't right while filming "wild sets." He had regarded it as "playful", he rowed back at the same time. In the documentary, he now says more clearly that his behavior was wrong and inexcusable.

Schwarzenegger is still active as an actor at the age of 75. Since the end of May, he can be seen on Netflix in his first leading role in series, in the action comedy »FUBAR« he plays a CIA agent. The documentary »Arnold« was released on Wednesday.

hba/dpa