In a recent joint interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his thoughts on Robert Downey Jr.’s Best Supporting Actor acceptance speech at the 2024 Oscars. Downey Jr. had joked about his ‘terrible childhood’ during his speech, and Schwarzenegger revealed that he deeply resonated with those words.
Schwarzenegger explained that he had faced difficulties in his own childhood, including an abusive, alcoholic father. He stated, “Because he went through trouble and pain — I don’t know exactly the story. But for him to thank his s—-y upbringing means that it motivated him and kept him going into a different direction rather than staying in the s—-y upbringing.”
He went on to discuss how his challenging experiences drove him to leave Austria and pursue his dreams in America. “If I would’ve grown up like some people do with all the love in the world, I would’ve never left home,” Schwarzenegger said. “I would’ve stayed in Austria. It’s not the kind of life that would have made me happy. … I think what drove me was I had such a need to create my own world; I had to get out of that misery at home.”
