New Conan the Barbarian Hottie to Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Dude, You Gotta Leave Me Alone!"

It’s a battle of the barbarians as the new Conan takes Comic-Con

By Ted Casablanca, Aly Weisman, John Boone Jul 22, 2011 9:56 PMTags
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Before he was known as the 38th governor of California, a philandering husband, or even The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger was best known in the U.S. for his starring role in Conan the Barbarian!

But that was way back in 1982, when Arnie was still just a former bodybuilder from Austria. And now today, the role of Conan is being taken over by a new young muscleman: Jason Momoa.

So did Ahnold the original impart any wisdom on the younger acting filling his gladiator-style boots?

"He did all the time, I was like, 'Dude, you gotta leave me alone, bro,' " Jason joked to reporters at a roundtable discussion at Se Hotel in San Diego for Comic-Con today.

"I was excited to find out he actually watched it and liked it a lot," Jason dished to us during our fun-filled discush. "He was proud of me and thought I did a good job."

But sounds like any talks between the two Conans were strictly one-sided, as Jason hasn't even seen the original Arnold version yet!

"No, I haven't," he admitted. "I'm going to go watch his movie I just wanted to see mine first!"

But the actor has good reason for not copying the Governator's acting style and insists he hasn't sat down to watch the flick on purpose.

"I'm going to go see it soon because everyone is castrating me on the whole thing—like, leave me alone I'm going to watch the movie!" Jason joked. "But I've never played a role that's already been played before and I really don't feel like I would need to see Arnold's performance to help me with mine."

Oh, snap! But dude's got a point. Arnold probably isn't the best role model at the moment.

So how did the 6-foot-4 actor prep for the rigorous role?

"It's all movement for me," explained Jason. "The way he [Conan] prowled I felt like he was a big cat so I went and studied lions and watched how lions and panthers moved."

Interesting. So is it safe to say we can next see Jason starring in Cats on Broadway? Hope so!

But other than moving like a big kitty, J. also revealed he had to learn how to maneuver his extra body weight.

"Having to shave your body and put 20 pounds of weight on absolutely changes the way you move and how you speak through your body," says the super tall and muscley actor. "I'd never done anything like that before."

But after a diet of "boiled chicken and raw meat" to get in tip-top toned shape for the shirtless role, J got to let loose after filming wrapped.

"I ate f--king pizza, drank Guinness, I'm a huge drinker," J. dished to us. "Conan's a big drinker, but you gotta keep the abs and that's hard."

Perhaps Arnold has some tips on staying in shape while cheating...on a diet?

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