Arnold Schwarzenegger on Teaming with Jake from State Farm for Super Bowl Ad: ‘I Had to Get Him in Shape’ (Exclusive)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Farm’s Jake went from being workout buddies to stars.

Schwarzenegger, 76, tells PEOPLE he helped Jake — aka actor Kevin Miles — get into action star shape for their new State Farm Insurance ad campaign ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.

“Well, we worked out together. I had to get him in shape for this because when I heard he was at 10% body fat, that was unacceptable,” Schwarzenegger told PEOPLE about hanging out with Miles. “So I told him, I said, ‘By the time we do the commercial, you have to be at 8% body fat.’ And so he really got into great shape and it was a lot of fun working with him. He’s a really fun guy and, of course, a great actor. So it was fun.”

The duo was seen working out together during a shoot at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California in January. A few days later, State Farm released its teaser trailer for its new ad campaign featuring Schwarzenegger as a State Farm agent. On Tuesday, the company released another video showing Terminator the star humorously tries to say the slogan “As a good neighbor, State Farm is here”, in his famous Austrian accent.

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State Farm Agent State Farm Poster.

Courtesy of State Farm

“I had a great experience and I just hope it goes well because when I saw the commercial, I said it myself, I really had to laugh,” he added of the spot that aired during Sunday’s game.

The ad is a play on Schwarzenegger’s long career in the film industry as an action star. The actor and former California governor said in recent months that his accent “became an asset” as he established himself as a leading man in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

“Let’s do something like a movie, let’s make it big,” he says of the inspiration behind the new campaign. “And so it kind of uses all my stuff that I’m known for — it’s action movies, it’s highlights, it’s comedies.”

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Jake from State Farm and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

MOVIE Inc.

“I found [that] when I wanted to get into movies, they said it would never happen because of your accent,” Schwarzenegger tells PEOPLE. things and not having a perfect American accent and all that stuff.”

Schwarzenegger’s State Farm ad will air just before the start of the second quarter Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers face off in Super Bowl LVIII, airing on CBS at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education