So, picture this: you're tasked with filming a three-part Netflix documentary series on the life and times of Arnie Schwarzenegger, called, simply, Arnold. The Austrian Oak is already attached, but who else are you enlisting as a talking head? Linda Hamilton? But of course. Danny DeVito? Go for it. Sly Stallone? Wouldn't be the same without him. Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron? You've lost your damn mind.
But there he is, DC himself, shuffling onto the screen in the final instalment of our preview screening, which will arrive on everybody's Netflix homepage next week. He's there to meet Arnold, and it all seems inexplicably recent. What are you doing here, Dave? No time for questions, because the 'UK Conservative Party Leader 2005 - 2016' (as the film bills him) is wants to share his thoughts on how his political views aligned with those of the man who played The Terminator. But still, we must ask: what is going on?
Following historical footage of the then-governor of California Schwarzenegger visiting the PM at 10 Downing Street around 13 years ago, the modern-day meet up seems to suggest that the two are still working on environmental policies together. Schwarzenegger reveals that he worked hard to push through eco-focused legislation during his time in power (he left office in 2011), and Cameron’s on hand to talk about his own successes in building “a growing economy” like Schwarzenegger did.
“When I became leader of the Conservative Party in Britain,” Cameron says to the camera, “One of the first things I did was to point out, it is a Conservative thing to be concerned about the environment. It was very inspiring to see someone running one of the most important economies in the world but at the same time saying: ‘Actually, these two things aren’t in conflict’. If you want a growing economy you need to have, long term, a green economy too.”
Then there’s a cut to Arnie’s smoking tent/office, with Dave looking casual in a blue and white checked shirt and chinos, saying: “And all agree to the net-zero so we’re in shape…” and that’s the last we see of Cameron in the doc.
Unlikely bros
The unlikeliest duo since Schwarzenegger and DeVito in Twins, Cameron and Schwarzenegger’s friendship appears to date back to 2010, when they met at the PM’s residence. But then in 2016, just seven months after leaving as prime minister following the Brexit referendum, the duo posted an excruciating Snapchat video together:
“I’m with my good friend David Cameron, from England, the ex-prime minister,” Schwarzenegger says. Cameron adds: “I’m with the governor. He did a great job, and I’ll be back.” Good one.
Following Cameron’s reappearance into the public eye in Arnold, we’re not privy to any further information about what the two friends are cooking up together. Cameron’s been keeping a low profile since the Brexit fall-out, bar the release of his memoir, For The Record, in 2019. Then he hit the headlines again in 2021 for his controversial role in lobbying the government for the now defunct financial services company Greensill Capital.
Since then, according to the Financial Times, he was assigned to teach politics in a three-week course at New York University Abu Dhabi in January 2023. He was there to lecture students on “practising politics and government in the age of disruption”.
Arnold streams on Netflix from June 7.
