Is it Worth it for Schwarzenegger to Return to Acting?

In some ways it's still mind boggling that action mega-star Arnold Schwarzenegger was not only elected Governor of California, but has now held the position for eight years. Now the governator is getting ready to move out of politics at the end of his current term. Aside from a cameo appearance in "The Expendables," Schwarzenegger hasn't acted during this entire time. Once a staple of the multiplex he may now (in cinematic terms at least) be the product of a bygone era.

However even if that's the case that's not going to stop Schwarzenegger from heading back to Hollywood. The Austrian born actor/politician recently revealed on his twitter page that he's told his entertainment agents at Creative Artists Agency that he's ready to start taking offers again. Schwarzenegger's last appearance on screen was in a smaller role as a Turkish prince in 2004's comedic version of "Around the World in 80 Days." The year before he made his final appearance as the killer robot that made him a star in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." His likeness appeared in "Terminator Salvation" but that was achieved through using computers to put his face on another actor's body. Throughout the years Schwarzenegger has had his fans, however there's a very distinct possibility that in his time away from the screen they've moved on.

It's certainly not impossible for Schwarzenegger to make a comeback, some might point to the recent resurgence of Sylvester Stallone as proof that there's room for an aging action star or two in the world. Though it is worth pointing out that Stallone is generally regarded as a better actor than Schwarzenegger. And Stallone had established characters he was able to revisit to help bring about his comeback (Rocky and Rambo.) The only specific characters that Schwarzenegger is heavily associated with are the Terminator and Conan the Barbarian. Unfortunately he's gotten to old to play an ageless machine any more and the Conan franchise is getting a reboot with a younger lead later this year.

The thing about aging action stars is when they start to be on the border of being too old for action they need to broaden their horizons. Bruce Willis started doing it with movies like "The Sixth Sense," Mel Gibson opted to focus on his directing and so on. Schwarzenegger on the other hand has missed his transition years, he was busy being governor during the period when he could have been showing he could do more than action (assuming that's possible.) Now he's missed the steady progression and leapt straight into being too old to be credible. The scary possibility is that Schwarzenegger realizes this and instead focuses on his comedy projects. While there were a few guilty pleasures such as Kindergarten Cop the majority of his forays into the world of comedy were just plain painful.

Thankfully it looks like Schwarzenegger is looking more toward dramatic work rather than comedy. He's cited Clint Eastwood as an example of how he'd like to see his career progress from action films to dramatic works. It's not a bad plan, though Schwarzenegger frankly doesn't have the history of dramatic work that Eastwood has so it's an open question whether he has the acting chops to pull this off. One script that he's been rumored to be considering is a WWII drama called "With Wings as Eagles." The script tells the true story of an older German officer who is ordered to execute POWs but instead follows his conscience and assists in their escape. It certainly sounds like it could be a good fit, and with the right director this could be Scwarzenegger's ticket to dramatic work into his golden years.