Did Arnold Do His Own Stunts In Terminator 3?

Action in the third installment of the Terminator films is a combination of the rough, gritty style of the first two and the gloss of big-budget Hollywood action sequences. For the most part, Arnold did as much of his own stuntwork as possible in Terminator 3. However, the production did rely on doubles for some of the more hazardous stunts, as well as a combination of real stunts and computer-generated images in the highly visual and frenetic highway chase scene. It’s a fun, action-packed film with plenty of pulse-pounding sequences to thrill fans of the star, and while it’s not as dark or serious as the first two films, it does contain a healthy dose of Arnold’s trademark intense action style.

As many know, Arnold is often associated with performing stunts for his films, and many expect him to do some of the stunts in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The actual amount of stunt work he did for T3 is somewhat debatable. By the time the film rolled around, Schwarzenegger was in his 50s and I am pretty sure that most of the very physically demanding work was left to stunt doubles. That does not mean he did not do any stunts at all for the film however. He did perform some of his own stunts, and was even featured in the very cool crane chase scene for close-ups. The stunt work for this scene was done by others, but Arnold’s shots were seamlessly interspersed with the stunt work to produce a very cohesive look. The stunt coordinator of the film even stated that Arnold wanted to do a lot more for the film than he was able to, mainly due to safety protocols and insurance requirements.

This is a really interesting area for the Terminator franchise in terms of stunt work – they did the majority of practical stunts for the first film for example, but the big action set pieces in T3 were done largely with the aid of CGI. It’s interesting to see how the practical stunts in this have been balanced against the stunt doubles who stand in for Arnold in the scenes where it would be too dangerous for him to perform. The Bathroom Fight in particular is a real highlight of a really, really great action scene, and you can tell that Arnold is giving 100% to the role even if another stunt double takes the brunt of the physicality of the fight. He’s a big part of why action stars are able to sell this kind of material – their charm and physicality allows the audience to believe what’s going on in the scene in front of them.

I just watched Terminator 3 again. I had to get into the stunt details for this. I figure it is only fair to give credit where credit is due. Sure, Arnold is in most of the scenes and does a lot of his own work in the simple punches and walks, but the big stunts like the truck crashing through the walls of the house and the helicopter overhead were all done by stunt people. In a behind-the-scenes clip, Arnold says that his job was to look serious while others flew through windows. Humble, huh?

One of the cool things about “Terminator 3” is that it finds a nice balance between delivering on the legacy of the previous two films and being a very practical, safety first kind of production. You can tell when Arnold is in a scene with the TX in the graveyard and when his stand-in is, but it doesn’t take you out of the film. Instead, it gives you a sense of the scope of the action and how it was all choreographed. And yeah, he may not have done every stunt, but it’s worth noting how he trained for his role, including lifting weights in between shots.