Arnold Schwarzenegger Really Did Drive a Tank Over a Mercedes Benz

How did Arnold Schwarzenegger let the world know that he’s taking over the job of Netflix’ Chief Action Officer? By actually driving a tank over a Mercedes Benz in real life! 

A recent promotional video that was released by Netflix humorously featured Schwarzenegger taking on the big chair in a fictional Netflix boardroom, after pulling up to the building in his own tank and crushing the fancy car in the executive parking spot. Schwarzeneggers’s entire thesis is that “Nobody loves action more than me,” which therefore qualifies him as the one man best suited to bringing fans the best action content to Netflix. 

“I’ve always been passionate about delivering the best action possible, whether it was in my films like Terminator, in my new action comedy FUBAR or now as the chief action officer,” Schwarzenegger told Netflix’s Tudum. “The toughest part is that I love action so much, I want to put it into everything I watch… romantic comedies, stand-up, dramas — all candidates for more explosions in my opinion.”

In a corresponding interview about the promo video, Schwarzenegger confirmed that he actually drove that tank seen in the video – it wasn’t just an action stunt: 

“I drove this exact tank when I was an 18-year-old in the Austrian army, and many years later I was fortunate enough to be able to bring it to the US. So when Netflix wanted to name me as CAO, I jumped at the opportunity to have a little fun with the tank.” 

This is far from the first time that Schwarzenegger has brought out his Austrian tank as a casual driving/car-crushing spectacle in real life. When making his onscreen acting return in the 2010s after political service, Schwarzenegger infamously took a team of journalists out to drive in his tank and crush cars, in order to promote Korean director Kim Jee-woon’s Hollywood action debut, The Last Stand. 

Netflix Action in 2023

As the trailer teases, Netflix will drop some big action TV shows and movies this year. Chris Hemsworth will return in an even bigger and wilder action movie spectacle with the sequel film Extraction 2 in mid-June; while Henry Cavill will give fans one last run as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher Season 3 in late June. Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot and Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan will star in Tom Harper’s (Peaky Blinders) new spy-action-thriller Heart of Stone in August.