Few figures in pop culture exemplify the American Dream quite like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hailing from a small village in Austrian and enduring a challenging upbringing under a strict father, Arnold recognized early on that he needed to break free and strive for something greater. His journey to success is intricately linked to the film industry, which ultimately played a pivotal role in bringing him to the United States.

However, the type of film that first captivated him wasn’t the mainstream cinema we often think of today. Instead, it was a series of educational film reels he was exposed to in school. In a reflective piece for The Wall Street Journal, Arnold reminisced, “At age 10, I fell in love with America. That came from watching film rolls in school. The teacher would advance the strips by turning a knob, showing one image at a time. I was blown away. They were about things like the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and cars with huge fins driving on U.S. highways with six lanes on each side. All of it was over the top. At some point, there was a roll on Hollywood. I’d never seen anything like it—the glamour, the lights, and the houses. I said to myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ I wanted to be in America and to become famous and rich.”

As history shows, Arnold Schwarzenegger made his entrance into America via the bodybuilding circuit, achieving fame as Hercules in Hercules in New York, albeit under the moniker Arnold Strong, “Mr. Universe.” Initially, his experience in Los Angeles was somewhat disheartening. However, he persevered, immersing himself in English and business classes, ultimately obtaining his citizenship in 1983—just a year after his breakout role in Conan the Barbarian. Following that success, he starred in a string of blockbuster hits, including The Terminator, Commando, Predator, The Running Man, Total Recall, and True Lies. Notably, he became the first—and to date, the only—Austrian native to serve as a governor in the United States, demonstrating his remarkable versatility and determination.

Arnold’s career continues to thrive, as he is currently featured in Netflix’s FUBAR, where he plays a CIA operative who discovers that his daughter, portrayed by Monica Barbaro, is also secretly engaged in the same line of work. The show’s second season premiered in June, reaffirming his enduring presence in the entertainment industry.