Having once played a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, Calum Von Moger is embracing the “I’ll be back” mantra. In a recent YouTube video, Von Moger discussed his ‘spark’ for bodybuilding and what it was like portraying Schwarzenegger in the 2018 film ‘Bigger.’
As a Mr. Universe titleholder, the world was for the taking when Calum Von Moger set his mind to conquering new heights, both on and off the stage. He was cast to play a young and impressionable Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘Bigger,’ and ever since, he has remained one of bodybuilding’s most recognizable faces.
However, all good things must come to an end. Von Moger’s troubles stacked up quickly. He jumped out of a two-story window and ended up in the ICU. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma after he broke his back to accelerate the healing process. While they thought he would never walk again, Von Moger made a full recovery.
This wasn’t the end of his hardships though. Von Moger was arrested following a road rage incident. He and his lawyer fought the allegations in court but he was still found guilty of intentional damage to property, unlawful possession of weapons, and carelessly driving a motor vehicle. Then, his psyche was pushed beyond its limits after discovering that his brother lost his life. Despite numerous setbacks, Calum Von Moger appears to be in a much healthier headspace today.
Calum Von Moger Talks New ‘Spark’ in Bodybuilding, Reflects on Playing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Film ‘Bigger’
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Bulking up by 30 pounds, Von Moger tells Jay Cutler he has begun training at the gym consistently again.
“Looking back now, I remember that conversation I had with you. Yeah, I was in a different world, different — I wasn’t — I kind of lost — I still didn’t have my spark back.
I think it wasn’t until really in January that I got back into training again, into the gym. Yeah, consistent, and then I started eating again. So, yeah, bulked up. I was looking pretty lean back then,” said Von Moger. “Thirty pounds, about 30 pounds [I put on].”
Even though he doesn’t believe he can sculpt a Mr. Universe-level physique, Von Moger underscored that the gym has helped him healthily process his problems.
“I don’t feel myself when I haven’t worked out. That’s when we spoke that last time. I wasn’t feeling myself at all. I had lost — honestly, I will say having injuries and having a little bit of a different look to the completely uninjured look, it was demotivating. I’d see that and I’d be like, it’s never going to look like that before, it’s not going to look like your past pictures.
I lost a lot of a bit of that motivation and excitement because I knew it would never be like that. But, I got it back. I’ve accepted everything. I probably just had to process it and it took a little bit longer to come to terms with what’s been going on and where I’m at. Once I accepted that I could go to the gym, it’s not about trying to be looking like this for Mr. Universe, it’s more about just going there to get the pump, to be disconnected from everything else that’s going on in my day.”
“I can go there and work on myself and get a filthy pump,” adds Von Moger.
Early on, Von Moger knew he didn’t want to be ordinary but with only a love for weights, he was unsure where life would take him.
“For me, I felt like I never wanted to be ordinary. I never wanted to do what the other kids were doing. I didn’t want to be a bricky, a sparky, a plumber, go to a university.
I didn’t want to do these things I really didn’t know what my thing was but I had passion in the weights. I loved that feeling. I believed in myself enough to say hey bodybuilding or the fitness industry, it started off as bodybuilding.”
Surely millions of bodybuilders wanted to play Schwarzenegger in the film ‘Bigger,’ but the production staff ultimately chose Von Moger for the job.
“That was Steve Jones, he’s a producer and he was looking for – so he basically, he’d gotten the permission from there’s a book on Joe Weider and he had the rights to turn that book into a motion film. He was looking, I think I maybe it was an email. They reached out to me to play the role of a young Arnold. I was like, ‘This is what I was born to do in a sense.’ People had called this like five, six years ago, saying you’re going to play Arnold in a movie one time.”
Although he lacked formal acting experience, Von Moger’s charisma and physique landed him the prestigious role.
“So yeah, I went to Steve’s place, I said hey, and I’ve got no acting experience. I’m not an actor. I’m a stupid bodybuilder. I’m a bodybuilder and I haven’t done a lot of acting experience anyway. I pulled up to his house, we had a meeting, he liked the physique, liked the look, can you act? I said, ‘Yeah, of course I can act.'”
“I did it, and they said yeah we want you to play Arnold. We love the look and I got on board with a voice acting coach. And that was right when we were filming Generation Iron 2 or something.”
He adds that Bob Cicherillo and Sergio Olvia Jr. were also selected to play roles in the film.
“I ended up filming in Birmingham, Alabama. That had Bob Cicherillo [in it],” said Von Moger. “It was the original Sergio Arnold standoff. Yeah, he [Sergio Oliva Jr.] played his dad.”
While Von Moger has yet to reveal if he will return to a bodybuilding competition, he has certainly hinted at the idea. In May 2024, Von Moger expressed interest in a possible return to the stage, indicating as much with an Instagram post captioned, ‘Tell them I’m coming.’
It’s not every day a bodybuilder gets to portray someone as iconic as the former seven-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger. Von Moger was honored to fulfill the duty and doesn’t underestimate what bodybuilding training has done for his mental outlook in 2024.
Watch the full video from the Cutler Cast YouTube channel below:
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