“That was not a healthy thing at all.”
Action film icons Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone may appear to be great friends and co-stars now, but the two apparently used to hate each other. In fact, before the days of being co-stars in “The Expendables” and “Escape Plan,” the actors wanted nothing to do with one another … at least according to Sly.
Speaking with Forbes, Stallone revealed they “really disliked each other immensely” back in the ’80s and ’90s, as both of their careers started to rise as action stars.
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“Because we were … this may sound a little vain, but I think we were pioneering a kind of genre at that time and it hasn’t been seen since really,” he explained. “So the competition, because it’s his nature, he is very competitive and so am I … and I just thought it actually helped, but off-screen we were still competitive and that was not a healthy thing at all.”
He added that the two, however, have since “become really good friends.”
Both Stallone and Schwarzenegger had impressive resumes in the 80s and 90s. Stallone had the “Rambo” and “Rocky” movies to his name, as well as “Cobra” and “Tango & Cash.” During this same time line, Schwarzenegger had his breakout roles in “Conan the Barbarian” as well as “The Terminator.”
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Clearly, that rivalry is long gone.
In 2010, Schwarzenegger made a cameo in Stallone’s first “Expendables” movie, before he then returned for sequels in 2012 and 2014.
These days, Stallone has turned to TV with his new series “Tulsa King,” his first foray into episodic fare. “It’s very different,” Sly told Forbes. “First of all, I have a great deal of empathy for people who do that, but I don’t think there’s a choice anymore.”
“The kinds of films I like to do, they’re not making them anymore, so this seems to be the only venue,” he added. “It’s actually a very lucrative one for the studio and I’m happy because it allows me to do something that would be impossible as a feature, it just would.”
“Tulsa King” is streaming now on Paramount+.
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