Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about the emotional toll his 'Maggie' role took on him

NEW YORK, April 30 (UPI) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger admits portraying a farmer whose daughter is terminally ill in the low-budget zombie film Maggie was even more exhausting than those larger-than-life, tough-guy roles he is famous for playing.

Asked by UPI at a recent New York press conference about the toll this emotionally-charged, dramatic part took on him in comparison to the physical challenges he has faced on his action pictures, the 67-year-old screen icon replied, "It is very draining."

"The brain takes much more energy than the body does," he noted. "It does, just look at it; this is why people, when you do something mentally draining, where you have to do a lot of thinking and negotiating... When I was in the [California] governor's office, I was, like, totally wiped out in the evening with all the responsibilities that you have in office. The same as here. It's very tough, but, at the same time, it's not tough because you are having such a great time doing it. You feel so passionate about the character that you play and about the movie and all this, so it is fun to do, but you do get wiped out. By the time evening comes, you do feel kind of like wiped out, yes."

Helmed by first-time director Henry Hobson, and co-starring Abigail Breslin and Joely Richardson, the independent film plays it straight as it tells the story of a heartbroken everyman whose infected teenage daughter has only weeks before she turns into a zombie and must either be killed by her family or sent to a quarantine camp where government officials will eventually end her life.

The Austrian-born actor and real-life father of five children said he had no trouble staying grounded in the film's very human story, despite the extraordinary circumstances of the story's setting.

"Spending time in that hospital with those bodies lying around and you walk around -- which I did quite a lot of times -- up and down, just to get the feeling because you can't really relate to it, people dying left and right," he explained. "But they were made up so well, those people that were lying there and they were acting at it so well that you really felt like: 'Oh, my God. I mean, can you imagine if this would be reality?' But they made it really feel like it was reality and, so, it was easy to get into that character and feel helpless and just wonder, 'What do I do now?' And it's my daughter on top of it. So, it's already a sad situation to be in a hospital like this when it's just looking around and seeing people dying like that and then your daughter. I dreaded visualizing what would it be like if it was my own daughter and I didn't even have to do that that many times, to be honest with you, because Abigail was so good and made it feel so real. I never felt like she was acting, I always felt like she was dying. That's how skilled she is in her profession. And, so, I think the performers and the actors that Henry hired and he got on this movie were really good. And I think there is something to be said for small movies because the camaraderie and the way we worked together and the way we really got into it was different than on a big action movie. It was quite unique. So, I felt like I, myself, whatever performance that I delivered, I have to credit everyone around me because they acted so well, that it brought out the best of me."

Richardson, who plays Maggie's stepmother in the film, said Hobson was excellent at keeping his actors focused on the ordeals their characters were facing.

"I stayed grounded, thanks to Henry. Henry was the total auteur," said the actress, who was sitting beside Hobson and Schwarzenegger on the panel. "Not only did [Hobson] have a vision... Some people have visions, but then they do not know how to follow through with their visions. He has a technical background, but then he gave us all very specific notes exactly how he wanted [everything] and he had the balls to -- if he didn't like what Arnold was doing or I was doing or Abigail -- he would say how he wanted it, and that takes courage and vision, so, thanks to him."

Maggie is set to open in U.S. theaters May 8.