20 Times Actors Bet Against Hollywood (And WON)

15. Arnold Schwarzenegger - Twins

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most iconic action stars of all time, and this has been both a gift and a curse. He's been delightful in many such films but this has definitely led to him being typecast and he hasn't always found it easy to break out into other types of movies. 

Schwarzenegger encountered this early in his career with Twins, which saw him branching out into comedy for the first time. With this one, he took a massive risk. As Universal predicted his transition to comedy would be unsuccessful, they were reluctant to greenlight the film. As such, Schwarzenegger made a deal to forgo his usual salary and instead, he would receive a share of the profits. Co-star Danny DeVito and Ivan Reitman made similar deals. 

To say this paid off would be a dramatic understatement. Twins made over $200 million worldwide, leading to Schwarzenegger receiving a huge pay-out and setting the stage for several more comedy parts, many of which were also in collaboration with Ivan Reitman. 

Schwarzenegger later described the decision to forgo his salary as one of the best decisions of his life, and he concluded that Twins made him more money than any other film in his career.