◇Guess Who's Back?

After a long absence, Arnold Schwarzenegger has returned, not just to Hollywood but to Japan as well.

"The last time I was here, I said, 'I'll be back.' I kept my promise; I'm back," the action‐movie icon told a recent news conference in Tokyo. He was here to promote "The Last Stand," a film giving him his first major starring role in a decade.

"The Last Stand" should look familiar to any fan of Schwarzenegger, who describes it as "a traditional action movie that has a lot of the chase scenes, a lot of great fight scenes, a lot of great shoot‐outs and stunts."

He plays the role of Ray Owens, the sheriff of the little town of Sommerton Junction in Arizona. One night, drug syndicate members attack an FBI convoy in Las Vegas, releasing their arrested boss. The drug lord jumps into a high‐performance car and speeds south toward Mexico. When he reaches Sommerton Junction on the border, he confronts Owens, whose former SWAT team colleagues were killed by the syndicate.

In the past, Schwarzenegger was famous for his muscular roles. But this time, Owens is a man who left his position in Los Angeles after being wracked by his colleagues' deaths. Schwarzenegger says he is a character that is down and that feels like that he is no longer the action hero that he once was.

At the news conference, Schwarzenegger also looked back on his wide‐ranging career as a bodybuilder, actor and California governor. "What I'm trying to do now is to bring all of those careers together," the 65‐year‐old said.

His political experience, from 2003 to 2011, has been a big influence on his acting, he said.

"There are so many things that I've been exposed to as governor, about how difficult life can be for some people, and how challenging," he said. "That does have an effect on you − the way you look at the world, and the way you look at the scenes, and the way you act out."

Schwarzenegger also voiced appreciation for Japanese fans, and closed the conference, citing his most famous movie line: "I love Japanese people, so I, again, say, 'I'll be back.'" (By Kasama Tatsuma)

毎日ウィークリー４月２０日号

映画「ラストスタンド」は４月２７日（土）から全国公開（松竹、ポニーキャニオン配給）