One of two action legends who were at one another’s throats on and off screen for two decades has revealed he enjoyed their feud.
Sylvester Stallone, the star of Rocky, Rambo: First Blood, and Judge Dredd shared that, despite the clear animosity with fellow screen legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, he actually “enjoyed” their feud. Speaking during an appearance on The Rest is Entertainment podcast, Stallone broke down that the two were merely competitive with one another and were trying to be “the leader” of the action genre during the 1980s. Stallone said the difficulty came from both he and Schwarzenegger wanting to be the leading face of the action genre in 1980s Hollywood, and that the pair were “very confrontational” with one another during that time.
It wouldn’t be until two decades later that the feud was “put to bed,” with the two men appearing in The Expendables, an action film series that added a host of household names including Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris. Speaking of their feud through the ’80s and ’90s, Stallone said: “You know, we were very confrontational. Because you have two people arriving at the beginning of a different genre and we both want to be in charge of that genre.
“I never wanted to be an action guy, but I did First Blood and I said, ‘This is interesting because action films, if done right, are modern mythology. It’s like what they used to do, you know, The Iliad and The Odyssey and Hercules and Achilles.’ So, I see this guy, and I could tell right away he’s going to be a problem.”
Though it was a back-and-forth that would affect both men for decades, Stallone admitted he quite enjoyed their feud. He added: “We’re both physical, and now, who’s going to be the vanguard, the leader in that genre? So I do Rambo, he does Commando, and it went back and forth, back and forth, on and off screen. It was very contentious, trust me. Which I enjoyed.”
Schwarzenegger did once famously get the upper hand on Stallone by feigning interest in a film project to trick the Rocky writer into taking a role. It led to Stallone starring in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, a critically panned film better known for its tricked frontman than anything else.
Schwarzenegger confirmed the rumour he had feigned interest in the project to get Stallone’s attention, saying: “I read the script, and it was a piece of shit. Let’s be honest. I say to myself, ‘I’m not going to do this movie…’ Then they went to Sly, and Sly called me, ‘Have they ever talked to you about doing this movie?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I was thinking about doing it. This is a really brilliant idea, this movie.’ When he heard that, because he was in competition, he said, “Whatever it takes, I’ll do the movie.” And of course the movie went major into the toilet.”
Stallone would later say he regretted starring in the film. He added: “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was supposed to be like Throw Momma from the Train with the mom as this really nasty piece of work. Instead, you hire the nicest woman in Hollywood, Estelle Getty, who you wish was your mother. That’s the end of that! Also, I had heard Schwarzenegger was going to do that movie and I said, ‘I’m going to beat him to it.’ I think he set me up.”
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
