May 31, 2023
Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for a lot of things: bodybuilding, acting, serving as a governor of California in the early aughts. For the younger set, he’s mostly known for the surprisingly enduring 1996 Christmas movie, Jingle All the Way.
And in recent years his output has been even more varied: He self-publishes a newsletter daily, he’s making his television series debut in the form of Netflix’s action-comedy Fubar, and he has a self-help book coming later this year.
Yet, with all of this on the go, Schwarzenegger apparently stays grounded with the help of a crew of farm animals that live with him on his six-acre property in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, reports Architectural Digest.
“Sometimes I get out of bed and feel shitty. But I get on a bike or go feed the animals and suddenly I feel great,” Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter in a cover story that dropped on May 16.
The actor’s collection of animals adds up to something of an at home petting zoo, including a mini donkey named Lulu, a mini horse named Whiskey, and a pig named Schnelly. He also has an equally varied assortment of dogs, including a Yorkie named Noodle and an Alaskan malamute named Dutch (“named after my character in Predator,” he writes on Instagram).
Though they’re not included in the THR story, per Schwarzenegger’s Instagram, the canine extension of his family also includes a dog named Schnitzel (“after my favorite Austrian dish and my own nickname,” he writes in another Instagram caption) and another named Cherry.
While we’d assumed that Arnold’s Ark was merely an overcommitment to the pandemic pet trend, his love of domesticating farm animals apparently extends back to the late 1990s, when he purchased a pig after taking a shine to his Batman & Robin costar George Clooney’s own pig.
“So, I bought a pig right after that,” Schwarzenegger said, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch. “Only thing is, I must’ve bought the wrong one because, in no time, it was 300 pounds and I could barely lift the son of a gun.”
Rest assured, if you end up at Schwarzenegger’s house, the eight-foot bronze statue of his younger self isn’t the most unusual thing you’ll find presiding over the pool.
Research contact: @architect d_
