Arnie speaks about turning down Die Hard and The Rock

Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken about how he turned down both 'Die Hard' and 'The Rock' in his Hollywood heyday.

He told film mag Empire that it was down to upsetting the film's eccentric producer, the legendary Don Simpson, that 'The Rock' never happened for the Austrian Oak.

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He said that Simpson, whose appetite for drugs would eventually prove to be his undoing, burst into his trailer 'totally stoned' with a script covered in hand-written notes by his then production partner Jerry Bruckheimer.

“He says, 'Here, look at this script. But don't read it! Just, here's what the premise is. He was all over the place,” said Arnie. “I said, 'Look, Don. I can't make a commitment based on what you're showing me here. You won't even let me read the script! Why don't you bake it some more, develop it some more then we'll talk again.'

“He was very upset. He just walked out and then went to Nicolas Cage with the part.”

He also revealed that producer Joel Silver asked him to look at the role of John McClane in 'Die Hard' while the pair were filming 'Predator' together, but ended up taking the part to Bruce Willis instead.

Among the other roles Arnie says he passed on or couldn't take were Animal Mother in Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' and Doctor Octopus in a James Cameron version of 'Spider-Man' that never reached the screen.