In The 6th Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s swimming stunt took a dangerous turn, nearly leading to him drowning in the water.

SUMMARY

During the swimming scene in the movie The 6th Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger found himself doing the backstroke to survive.
In this particular scene, the former Governor of California was supposed to perform a simple stunt, involving swimming in a pool.
But something went wrong and Arnie got turned around underwater. As a result, he couldn’t find his way back to the exit.

Arnold Schwarzenegger flexed his bulky muscles on the big screen, performing his own stunts like a true action hero. Not only in the 80s, but the former bodybuilder stayed fit to keep doing stunts for years to come.

At 73, Arnie slowed down a bit. But his last stunt was in 2014, at the age of 66. While most people are contemplating retirement, Schwarzenegger was out there doing his own stunts in Sabotage.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Sabotage
Out of all the incidents, one stunt moment from his career stands out. It’s during the swimming scene in the movie The 6th Day when the former Governor of California found himself doing the backstroke to survive.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Almost Drowned in the Water During a Scene on The 6th Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger had an incident during the filming of the movie The 6th Day. In this particular scene, Schwarzenegger was supposed to perform a simple stunt, involving swimming in a pool.

But there was a cover on the pool, and the plan was for him to come out of the water at the same place he entered.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in a still from The 6th Day
Something went wrong during this. Arnie got turned around underwater, and as a result, he couldn’t find his way back to the exit.

This situation became dangerous as he started to run out of air. Despite keeping calm, the actor realized that time was running out.

As the Austrian Oak explained the situation himself in his book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life:

“On Sixth Day, I probably had my most dangerous stunt. It was supposed to be simple, a scene where I am swimming. But there was a cover on the pool.

I was supposed to come out the same place I went in, but I got turned around and started to run out of air.

I couldn’t find my way back to the exit, and I tried to stay as calm as possible but knew I didn’t have long.

Luckily, my stunt double Billy Lucas realized what was happening and came in to save me.”

Thankfully, Schwarzenegger’s stunt double, Billy Lucas, acted quickly to save him.

Lucas intervened to help him get back to the surface, preventing a life-threatening situation.

This, however, isn’t the first time the former bodybuilder has faced such a situation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Wild Incident on Conan the Barbarian Film Set

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian
Another incident involving Schwarzy occurred during the filming of Conan the Barbarian. In the specific scene, the director’s vision called for Conan to take a bite of a dead vulture while being tied to a tree.

As the Terminator star noted in his book, “I bit a real, dead vulture that required I wash my mouth out with alcohol after each take.” But the hardship is yet to come.

He described in his book that “On one of the first days of filming,” he “tore a gash” on his back that “required forty stitches.”

The actor was pushed to do his own stunts because “there weren’t stunt guys big enough yet.”