The Rocky Balboa depicter admits he 'immediately' hated Lundgren when they met for the first time and reveals that the Swedish actor sent him to ICU during filming of the movie.
- May 28, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Rocky IV" explores the rivalry between Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa and Dolph Lundgren's Ivan Drago that ends up being settled in the ring. Now as Stallone himself revealed, it turns out that in real life he really loathed his co-star.
The 72-year-old actor admitted he immediately "hated" the Swedish actor when they first met. "And then Dolph Lundgren walked in, and I hated him immediately... I had to find a superhuman being as an opponent, someone who would be overwhelming," he said at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.
The "Rambo" star explained that Lundgren's perfect impression set that negative reaction inside him. He recalled his feeling at the time, "Oh, that's right, he's perfect ... This is what I would imagine they would create as an athlete - someone who is literally perfect. Indestructible. Shoulders, calves, forearms, giant butt, neck, back, everything."
And Drago's super strength impression wasn't just made up on the screen as Stallone got to experience first hand Lundgren's deadly blow. The actor recounted the time his co-star nearly killed him on the set when they were filming their big fight in the climax.
"I told him, 'Why don't we just do it? Just try to knock me out. Really cut loose as hard as you can.' That was a really stupid thing to say," he shared. "Next thing I know, I'm on a low-altitude plane to the emergency room, and I'm in intensive care for four days. And there are all these nuns around." Stallone added, "He hit me so hard he almost stopped my heart."
Despite his negative first impression of Lundgren, the two got to work together again in 2018's "Creed II", which sees Drago's son Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) facing off against Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky's rival-turned-friend who was killed by Drago in the ring thirty years before. He has indicated that the movie would mark his last appearance as Rocky.
Stallone, however, is set to reprise his other iconic role John Rambo in "Rambo V: Last Blood", which is slated to arrive on September 20 of this year. The movie is billed as the fifth and final chapter of the franchise.
