Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals what he thinks happens when we die

Article content

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for all the believers out there: heaven is just a “fantasy.”

The 75-year-old action man shared his thoughts on death and the afterlife after his acting pal Danny DeVito, 78, asked him, “What’s in the future for us? What do you think, in terms of our species? Are we going to last?”

“It reminds me of Howard Stern’s question to me. ‘Tell me, governor, what happens to us when we die?’ I said, ‘Nothing. You’re six feet under. Anyone that tells you something else is a f—ing liar,’” Schwarzenegger responded while chatting with his Twins and Junior co-star in a profile for Interview Magazine.

“I said, ‘We don’t know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I’m not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that.’”

Schwarzenegger, who recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he plans to “live forever,” added that the topic of death is something he isn’t comfortable with.

“When people talk about, ‘I will see them again in heaven,’ it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won’t see each other again after we’re gone. That’s the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don’t,” he said.

The Terminator star went on to add that he “will f—ng miss the s— out of everything” when he dies before reflecting on what it has been like to lose close friends over the years.

“Just in bodybuilding alone, I’ve lost 15 friends in the last 20 or so years,” he said. “As you get older more and more people around you wipe out … What the f—? What kind of deal is that?”

DeVito said he copes with the notion of being dead by keeping the memory alive of those he has lost in his thoughts.

“To me, heaven is where I put a person who I love dearly, who is kind, who is generous, who made a difference in my life and other people’s lives. I keep them in a spot in my head … And you always have a good feeling when you think of them.”

In an interview with Postmedia last month, Schwarzenegger spoke about his decades-long career and how he initially disappointed his father by not following in his footsteps to become a police officer in his native Austria.

“He was very upset that I didn’t make his dream a reality. But I was more interested in making my dream become reality, which was to go to America, become a world champion bodybuilder and get into show business and eventually play a police officer rather than being one,” he said.

mdaniell@postmedia.com