Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren first crossed paths on Rocky IV, with the former picking the latter to play Ivan Drago because he emanated the “flawless” quality the character needed to have. While working together on that movie resulted in the two of them forming a friendship, they didn’t team back up professionally until the Expendables franchise launched in 2010, which Lundgren was keen to join. However, the Gunner Jensen actor recently recalled a time when he wanted to punch Stallone while doing the first Expendables movie.
While appearing on In Depth With Graham Bensinger (via Variety), Dolph Lundgren noted how he and Sylvester Stallone have had “some good times and bad times, kinda like family to some degree,” then brought up when Sylvester Stallone was “very harsh” during a portion of The Expendables’ production. Along with playing Ross, Stallone directed the first movie, and at one point he “kinda yelled” at Lundgren in front of the crew, made him “do about 20 takes” one one scene and criticized his performance at that moment. Lundgren then said:
We took a lunch break and I remember I was kind of in tears. I was really upset. I called my wife that time and I basically just told her, ‘If he says one more word, I’m gonna knock him out and fuck this movie, I’m outta here. I’m just gonna punch him out and fucking leave.’ And I think when I walked on the set, people felt it wasn’t such a good vibration. And then I had a tap on the back and it was Sly. And he was like, ‘Uh, I’m sorry about that. Let’s just do another take and let’s just keep moving on.’ 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.
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So these two hit a rough patch while making The Expendables, but the good news is it didn’t last long, and thankfully no punches were thrown. That said, this does call to mind when Lundgren talked about how Stallone went to the hospital during the making of Rocky IV, then heard he was blamed for that, though he suspected it was really an “insurance scam.” And this incident on The Expendables wasn’t the last instance of drama between them, as last year saw Stallone calling out Lundgren over the Drago spinoff in development, which led to the latter clarifying some things about that Rocky franchise project.
Overall though, these Hollywood stars remain on good terms with one another, and The Expendables was the start of more consistent collaboration between them. They went on to reprise Gunner and Barney two more times, and we’ll see them in these roles again for the 2023 new movie release The Expendables 4. However, given how early Stallone completed work on the fourth installment, it doesn’t look like he’ll be in the movie for long, with Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas taking over as the main lead. Stallone and Lundgren also re-teamed for 2018’s Creed II, and the Ivan Drago actor will also be seen stopping by The Family Stallone, the reality series premiering to Paramount+ subscribers on May 17.
Those of you eager to see The Expendables 4 will be able to so in theaters starting September 22. Dolph Lundgren will also be seen reprising Nereus in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives on December 20, and Sylvester Stallone can currently be seen back as Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
