Hasta la visa Arnie, there’s a new bodybuilder in Hollywood ready to pump iron and steal our hearts – and he’s Australian.
Calum von Moger has just scored the Hollywood role of a lifetime playing a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the upcoming film Bigger.
The Victoria native doesn’t have a single movie credit to his name, but take one look at Calum and it seems the role of young Arnold was one he was born to play.
Calum, 27, bears an uncanny resemblance to the former Hollywood star, so much so that he has often been called ‘Arnold 2.0’.
And Calum, who won Mr Universe in 2014, is just as dedicated to bodybuilding as Schwarzenegger once was.
The future Terminator star would become the youngest to win the Mr Olympia competition when he was 23, before grabbing the top title a record six more times.
Many wondered who could possibly fill Schwarzenegger’s shoes for the role – and then Calum came along.
The first-time actor revealed on Today that it was Steve Jones, the producer of Bigger, who first reached out to him.
‘We had a sit down and a discussion about what they were looking for and they said they’d like me to play the role of young Arnold,’ Calum said.
It was no doubt a huge moment for Calum, who has looked up to Schwarzenegger for most of his life.
Calum started bodybuilding at the age of 14, after his parents and five siblings moved from a tiny farm town in Victoria to Geelong in 1998.
That’s when Calum and his brother began training at an old warehouse, getting their first taste of the bodybuilding world with rusty iron dumbbells and barbells.
‘Skinny and not very strong, Calum’s fitness goal at that time was to catch up to his older brother, who was bigger and stronger than he was,’ the actor’s website reads.
Calum completely immersed himself in bodybuilding. He trained, ate cans of tuna and whole chickens, and watched Arnold’s documentary Pumping Iron on repeat.
‘Arnold became his primary source of inspiration,’ Calum’s bio explains. ‘The physiques of the 1970s were the epitome of bodybuilding for Calum.’
‘It was at this time when Calum learned about the body and how to build muscle and definition. Calum’s body responded naturally very quickly, providing an opportunity for him to enter the local bodybuilding community.’
‘It was at this time when Calum learned about the body and how to build muscle and definition. Calum’s body responded naturally very quickly, providing an opportunity for him to enter the local bodybuilding community.’
Calum, who moved to Los Angeles in 2014, has even had the chance to meet his idol and doppelganger.
‘I met him at Gold’s Gym when I was working out there and it was really cool,’ Calum told the Today hosts.
‘I looked up to him my whole life while I was training. He stopped and helped me do some poses and it was awesome. Now I get to play him in a movie role, so it’s crazy.’
Calum may be be a Hollywood newbie, but he’s already got Arnie’s distinct Austrian accent down.
Bigger will follow the story of Joe and Ben Weider, who founded the Mr Olympia bodybuilding competition and helped Schwarzenegger move to the US.
The movie will also feature Teen Wolf stars Tyler Hoechlin and Colton Haynes as well as Julianne Hough.
