"When I was a kid, I used to watch the Hercules movies over and over and over. My father would come into my room at two in the morning and I would be watching Steve Reeves on the television and he would scream at me, "All you do is watch Hercules! Why don't you get an education, Louie? You're just wasting your time with that stuff". So you can imagine, what I felt like when I got a phone call from the people at Cannon Films asking me if I wanted to star in a remake of Hercules! It was like a bolt of lightning out of the sky. I signed the contract five days later."

"I have to tell you, it wasn't hard to talk me into the role. Playing Hercules means more to me than playing the Hulk. Honestly, it means more to me than winning the Mr. Olympia contest. Hercules is my all-time fantasy hero. He is the most famous strongman-hero in history. For a bodybuilder, Hercules is the ultimate."

"This will be an entirely new story, not the original myth. Hercules is a messenger from Zeus, his father. Zeus brings him back to life and sends him on a mission to earth, to save a city that is being attacked by another city and threatened with destruction. Just like in the Reeves movies, Hercules will be highly intelligent as well as tremendously strong."

"Just because the film is being done fairly quickly doesn't mean it's going to be cheap. We have a $6 million budget - a million dollars a week! That certainly isn't cheap. Conan cost $20 million for six months. But they also had all sorts of expensive special effects to pay for. In the Hercules movie, we won't need all those special effects. The impact of the film will come from the character of Hercules and from my physique, and that's why I intend to be in the best shape of my life."

"Simply from the point of view of making the film work, I want to be so outrageous, so big and muscular, that the audience will have no trouble believing that they're looking at the strongest man of all time."

"The Hercules you see on film will be even bigger than the Hulk! I'm training for the Hercules movie as if it were the Mr. Olympia contest. This movie is for history. Kids are going to be watching this film for years. I want to always be proud of the shape I was in when I made it. I will be in about 80 % Olympia shape. That means I will be as massive as I would be for the Olympia, but not as totally ripped. The camera likes good definition better than super-cut condition. If I were going into competition, I would spend more time on details, bringing up weak points. But moviegoers aren't competition judges. What is 80 % of Olympia shape is actually 100 % of the shape I need to be in for the film."

"I want to have the most fantastic physique of any man who ever walked on this planet. I want people to go to a Hercules movie and come out saying, "No one has ever looked more spectacular than that!"."

"As great a bodybuilder as Arnold is, I'm really a better-coordinated athlete. I think I showed that by my performance on Superstars, and I did play professional football. So I don't think I will have much trouble doing the stunts and combat scenes."

"When I first began doing The Hulk, nobody knew who I was. After the first year, suddenly I was the one getting all the attention. I think, if I could project my personality to the audience while covered in makeup and without speaking any words, I can do even more with a part like Hercules. I will not be made-up, I will be able to use my own voice, my physique will be displayed to its best advantage, and I will show everybody that Lou Ferrigno can really act."

"Actually, I like the beard so much I may keep it. All the women in my acting class tell me how sexy it looks. I always thought Reeves looked better with a beard. He was so good-looking that without the beard he was almost too pretty to play a rugged superhero."

"The biggest part of my audience is kids. And that's great, because once they accept you they never forget you. And that's also a great responsibility. I can imagine how I would have felt when I was a kid if I had a chance to meet Steve Reeves and get his autograph. I wouldn't have been able to talk. I would have been numb. It would have been the highlight of my life. So when a kid comes up to me and wants my autograph, I always try to find the time for him. Can you imagine snubbing a kid and having him remember it for the rest of his life? I wouldn't ever want that to happen. And that's why I made sure the Hercules film would be PG rated - no excess sex or violence, just a good, family adventure film. Something the kids can go to and enjoy."

"I'm glad I gave it my best shot because this movie will undoubtedly be compared with the early Steve Reeves and Reg Park films. But this movie will do more for bodybuilding, and, more important to me, it will make people forget The Incredible Hulk. It's something in which they can see Lou Ferrigno, what he can do without make-up. And I think, because of my being in ultimate shape (I was ripped for seventeen weeks of shooting), this movie will open a new cycle of gladiator films just like twenty-seven years ago (when Reeves made his first muscle movie)."

"My body makes this film, and my body made me what I am today. I know that when I sit in the theater at the premiere, I'm going to be very thankful I got in shape for it. A lot of young kids will go to see this film. They're the toughest critics. If you look smoothe you're going to hear from them."

"For me Steve Reeves was the greatest. My introduction to bodybuilding was through his Hercules films. All my early admiration (or should I say idolatry?) came flooding back to me while I was filming in Italy. I was standing at the entrance of this enormous cave waiting for the cameras to roll. All of a sudden I thought back to my childhood and how inspired I was watching the early Hercules films of Reeves and Reg Park, and then I realized that here I am in the Hercules costume doing what they did. I just broke into tears. The director, Louis Kose [Luigi Cozzi!], came over, asked what the problem was, I told him and he started to cry."

"I heard that Reg Park claims to be the most massive Hercules ever. Well, he's entitled to his opinion. I hate to say this, but if anyone can look bigger and more cut than I do on the screen, he'll probably be over seven feet and wigh 325 pounds."

"During the filming I didn't appreciate how good I looked. Now I know. I was worried that once I got out on location in Italy, my shape would suffer. I didn't think what kind of equipment I'd have. At first, my biggest challenge was finding a gym, but I did: the American Health Club in Rome, run by Ed Cheevers. Cannon Films was more than happy to furnish me with four barbells, four sets of dumbbells, and about 800 pounds of wights. When I was on location that's all I used, but I had the best workouts of my life. That's because I was motivated."

"The producers were understandable about my training. They gave me three hours to train every morning. With The Hulk I was on call eighty hours a week. Often they'd ring me at the gym and I'd have to cut my workout short. But the Hercules people knew the film depended on my body."

"I got down to 262 pounds for the film, but looked bigger than ever, because I kept my density. Most of my training consisted of two Weider Principles, Supersets and Trisets. Through experimentation I have found it best to do a heavy movement such as the bench press followed by a light movement such as dumbbell flyes. I would do a total of twenty to twenty-five sets per bodypart, very, very intense. I worked each bodypart three times a week."

"Dieting was unquestionably the worst part. In Italy they seem to cook everything in salt, butter and oil. So I had to prepare all my own meals. But the food there is good because they don't pump it with a mess of chemicals as they do in the US. Here, you never know what you're eating. That's why we're fat and there's so much cancer around."

"My diet was fairly high in carbohydrated and I consumed about 1800 calories daily. I ate a lot of chicken. And I drank a fair amount of cappuccino over there. I love it in the morning."

"In the film I did all my own stunts. In one scene I had to leap twenty-five feet from a hill onto the back of a live bear. On the fifth take, which was perfect, my ankle went out, tearing the tendon, and to this day I can't do toe raises."

"The bear wasn't very big, but he was powerful. They drugged him, and I'm glad we finished before the drug wore off completely, because near the end he was making these quick moves - with one swat, he sent a fellow flying. I once wrestled a bear on a Hulk episode. But we couldn't get very close because my makeup kept coming off on his chest."

"I come from an Italian family so naturally I have an interest in the country. The Italians are very warmhearted. But they're quite primitive in some ways. In filming they didn't think ahead on things and I found myself almost codirecting at times."

"I was worried about getting kidnapped, what with the Red Brigade and all. A lot of film stars worry about that. These days in Italy terrorists who kidnap you treat you well, and they don't ask for a high ransom. There's sort of a black market on hostages."

"I was offered other films in Italy, but I declined because I want to see what happens with Hercules. I'd hate to jump into anything else right now. Too many films at once can hurt your career. I think new doors will open for me soon."

"If I wanted to show everything I can do - all my acting ability, I couldn't have had a better part. It was a wonderful step from The Incredible Hulk. Hercules is my baby."

"I was in the best shape of my life. Most bodybuilders peak out and are in their best shape for one day of the year, the day of the contest. I had to maintain that condition for seventeen weeks for both films [Lou also made The Seven Magnificent Gladiators while in Italy], plus doing stunts, plus working on dialogue, plus acting. It was like Bruce Jenner training for the decathlon."

"I ate, drank and slept Hercules. I came home, ate, went to bed and got up at five in the morning five days a week. I made it like a religion to give it a hundred percent effort."

"I don't want to let the fans down because when it comes to Hercules I want to show the best of body and performance. I came home saying, "I couldn't have done this much better." (Lou holds his thumb and finger a hair's breadth apart). I gave all I've got, and that's what I'm happy about."

"At the beginning, the crew was skeptical. They thought it was going to be a remake of Hercules. After they saw what I could do, we all got into the character and the story. They became so supportive that the set every day was like a ball game. Every time I did a scene, they would stand up and clap. Or if it took three or four takes, they would be cheering me on. I liked that excitement. When they were clapping, I could imagine what the public is going to feel."

"Hercules is a film I want all the kids, everybody to go see and not be able to walk out saying, "He could have done better." I want them to walk out and feel fulfilled."

"It's a clean movie. It's going to be a tremendous relief of frustration for the audience, because everyone fantasizes about being the ultimate gladiator. That's what they're going to feel like when they see this film. People need that fantasy. It's like Raiders of the Lost Ark, where they're going to stand up and cheer."

"The special effects fit the times of the picture. A goddess like Hera can create anyting. It doesn't mean that when you see Hercules, he's gotta be against a bull, for example, as he was in one of his Twelve Labors. Hera wanted to create something to wipe me out. I was so invincible."

"The special effects should make the story more fascinating. They don't have to be creatures that existed in classical times. It's better for me, because it makes me more of a real superhero than just fighting guys. You should see the creature that kills my mother. You've never seen anything like it."

"The love scenes weren't too difficult. I enjoyed the chance to display my emotions in intimate situations, something the Hulk never encountered."

"But acting with my eyes required lots of rehearsal when it came to filming fight scenes with some of the creatures. The problem was that I had to start without the beasts, who were later superimposed on the film in the editing room to match my movements. It was hard, because I have to show different reactions for each monster I fight, according to their sizes and the way they look. For the Hydra, I imagined a big, three-headed dragon. When it comes out of the dark, you see only its eyes, specterlike."

"I had to be conscious of every step I took, the movement of the sword, and my point of view. And you have to react while you're doing all this. It was like doing a play on Broadway because you have to know all your moves. I did it over and over until it became second nature."

"Every scene looks real. They gave me a chance to expand and do whatever I wanted for my stunts. I designed almost all my stunts myself, because I have experience from The Incredible Hulk and I wanted to show to the maximum."

"The more you pull, the harder you do it and the more concentration you have, the more it makes the body look realistic with the stunt. Not like Superman where, instead of showing pure strength, most of Cristopher Reeve's stuff look preplanned and didn't make him appear as strong as he could have looked."

"When I fight the Hydra, the SFX crew managed to have scenes of the dragon in front of me, shooting laser beams at me. Isn't that unbelievable? The monster is still on the other side of the line, but it's close. Years ago they only used long shots, but this is close-up shooting."

"When my father is attacked, I jump on the bear. I'm running and put my right foot on a rock about as high as a table, and jump from there over a camera 15 feet away. My ankle gave out, but I did it again. The jumping scene is a beautiful long shot."

"I finished off the bear in, like, five seconds - I just smack him around and kill him. Then Hera realizes that I'm much stronger than she'd thought, and she sends the beast for my mother, and so on. She keeps building up."

"I trained for fighting, studying with Greco Musemico, the best fencing teacher in Europe. He taught Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn. He worked with me three or four weeks, four hours a day, to teach a style of swordfighting to fit Hercules."

"Minos is so confident when he draws his sword. It's a laser sword, and when he draws it he cuts my whole chest. I'm shocked, because in earlier battles nothing hurts me. But this guy is real wicked, so it's quite a fight scene."

"During filming, Sybil Danning and Brad Harris were training as if for a contest. I affected everyone on the crew. And during filming of The Seven Magnificent Gladiators, whenever I worked out, they worked out with me. Everyone was very conscientious about training."

"When I worked out at the American Health Club in Rome, the gym was packed every day. I'm going to create a whole new cycle, like Steve Reeves did, only bigger because I really affect people."

"They got the right guy for the part, and I'm glad because it's being done at the right time. It's going to give me a whole different image, and it will dispel the myth completely."

"They offered me other movies, but I want to wait until Hercules comes out. They might decide to do a sequel; I may want to move on to something else. I hate to say it, but there'll never be another Hercules like it. This is the ultimate. I'll never be able to train this hard for a film again. Doing the ultramodern Hercules was a wonderful feeling."

As much as he enjoyed playing the Olympian hero, says Ferrigno, "I don't want to be type-cast as Hercules, either. I did the role mainly for me - to show what Lou Ferrigno can do without the green makeup."

"They wanted only two 'Hulk-outs' per show," he charges, "which was very frustrating for me because I wanted to expand the character. That's why I did Hercules, all the things they limited me to on The Hulk are in the movie. For example, really showing the body close up, bringing everything in -- I choreographed all that into the stunts of Hercules."

Each day, Ferrigno would awake at 4 AM and work out from 4:45 to 8:30 AM before lensing began. These marathon four-hour training sessions were necessary, he says, "Because this movie will be compared to the original Hercules [the 1959 film and its sequel, both starring Steve Reeves]. and it must be better."

For his Olympian role, Ferrigno spent a great deal of time with crossed swords. He learned to duel, using a sword fighting style designed especially for him by stunt coordinator Enzo Musumeci Greco -- who had previously fought with such famous swashbucklers as Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power. Greco created a style to accentuate Ferrigno's size and feeling of power. "We wanted to show graceful form and massive power relaying through my body," the actor explains. "It had to be like a real striking force -- especially when I had to go up against the dragon. You can tell from the way I'm hitting the dragon that it will have good impact."

There were also more mundane foes to be grappled with in the film. Due to his size, Ferrigno, like fellow bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, is almost impossible to double. Consequently, he had to perform all his own stunts, even after painfully tearing a calf muscle when he hurtled the camera in a scene in which Hercules attempts to save his adopted father from a bear. In his rage, the son of Zeus turns the animal into the first fur-covered satellite.

Yet, if Ferrigno suffered pains during filming, he inadvertently dealt out some as well. Using real swords and shields ("you could see the sparks fly. This was real combat.") one stuntman missed a cue and entered the scene too late. Ferrigno whirled, smashing a small shield across the stuntman's chest and stomach. The wound took 35 stitches.

"My hear went to the floor," Ferrigno recalls, "but the make it real, we went for the blood."

Although he has no intention of muscling it up in a Hercules III, the actor thinks his sandal sagas could inspire legions of imitators just as the original Hercules did. And Ferrigno welcomes the prospect. "I'd like to see many of the guys [bodybuilders] get involved. Gladiator films are great for the sport," he notes. But I think this Hercules could create another cycle like Steve Reeves sand his movies did. When you think of Hercules 27 years ago, you think only of Reeves. Steve Reeves was Hercules."

Ferrigno, in fact, says it seems like only yesterday "when he was little" - a statement which certainly stretches credibility - and watching Hercules at home, that he dreamt of being like Steve Reeves. Today, Ferrigno feels that he is better in muscle development than his mentor, but he comments, that, "for his time," Reeves was unbelievable.

"I watched those Hercules films until they were coming out of my ears. Hercules and the Hulk were my thing in life. When I was young, I read Hulk comic books and watched Hercules movies. And I grew up to be both of them. Isn't that funny?"

Due to schedule conflicts with his Trauma Centre duties, he even turned down a quite appealing fantasy role. "They offered me Sinbad, a spectacular Sinbad, not built like Hercules, but trimming my body down and getting involved with unique sword fighting and stunt work," he says. "I'm sorry about passing the role up -- maybe I can still do it -- but I really wanted to get back to the stability of a TV series. My ambition is to be the star of my own series."