CINEMA
Sylvester Stallone underwent seven operations after suffering a neck injury in ‘The Expendables’: “I never recovered”
The actor recalled suffering a fractured neck after being on the receiving end of a blow in a scene from Steve Austin while filming ‘The Expendables’ in 2010.
Action movies are among the most popular in modern cinema. Figures such as Sylvester Stallone have made a living out of them, and while he’s known for his leading roles the Rocky and Rambo franchises, he has also participated in another such as The Expendables, where he has shared filming with other figures famous for their rippling biceps, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham and Steve Austin.
The action features in every single frame from start to finish - blows, kicks, fights, shots and explosions. It’s got it all. So much so that even some of the actors suffered an injury or two. In The Family Stallone, the reality show that he shares with his wife, Jennifer Flavin, and his three daughters, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet Rose, Stallone revealed how he ended up requiring several trips to the operating table for a fractured neck.
A total of seven operations
His troublesl started with a scene in which the actor had to face former WWE wrestler Steve Austin in a fight scene. “I did stupid things,” he recalled. “I did stupid stuff. I was directing ‘Expendables’ and, like an idiot, I’m doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam and I could actually feel one bang”.
The experience is why Stallone recommend leaving stunts to the professionals - stuntmen who know what they’re doing: “Steve knew. I never recovered from Expendables 1. After that film, it was never physically the same. I’ve warned people: Don’t do your own stunts”.
He wife Jennifer Flavin elaborated: “Sly tries to mask the pain, pretending like it didn’t happen. He doesn’t like people to know he’s had so many back surgeries. It’s very scary for our family every time Sly has to go through surgery, because you never know... no one knows...”
For her part, his youngest daughter, Scarlett Rose, chipped in to say that she too has been frustrated by all the injuries her father suffered: “It’s very hard to see my father go through another painful operation. My whole childhood, he’s been in pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain and be present, but I couldn’t imagine every waking moment you are just hurting.”