Movies
Why Dolph Lundgren wanted to punch Sylvester Stallone on set of ‘The Expendables’
Tensions almost boiled over while the two were working on ‘The Expendables’.
Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone have been friends for decades, but the Swedish actor revealed that punches were almost thrown between the two while on the set of ‘The Expendables’.
The 65-year-old appeared on an episode of ‘In Depth with Graham Bensinger’ this week in which he covered a wide rang of topics.
One of the talking points focused on Lundgren recalling his time making the 2010 film ‘The Expendables’. Stallone also starred in the film, and Lundgren revealed he almost got into blows with him.
“We had some good times and bad times, kinda like family to some degree,” Lundgren said of Stallone.
“He was very harsh on me in a scene in ‘Expendables 1′, where he kinda yelled at me in front of the whole crew and had me do about 20 takes on a scene.
“It was like, ‘My grandmother could do it better than that. What the f---, what are you doing?’ You know, basically in front of everybody. And there was press there that day too, international press.
“We took a lunch break and I remember, I was kind of in tears. I was really upset. I called my wife at the time, and I basically just told her, ‘If he says one more word, I’m gonna knock him out, and f--- this movie, I’m outta here. I’m just gonna punch him out and f----ing leave.’ "
How the two moved past the tension
In the end the two avoided a fight after Stallone later approached Lundgren and apologized.
“Then I had a tap on the back and it was Sly. He was like, ‘Uh, I’m sorry about that. Let’s just do another take and let’s just keep moving on,’” said Lundgren.
“And we’ve had a few run-ins over the years, but what can I say, he’s a crazy Italian. I think he knows that I’ve always respected him and loved him, and I think that’s why we’re still friends.”
The two are no strangers to one another, having worked together on several other projects as well.
Lundgren famously played Ivan Drago opposite Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV, and later reprised the role for ‘Creed II’ in 2018. They also worked together on the ‘Expendables’ sequels.