Dolph Lundgren
"Can Still Deliver a Mean Right Hook!"
Sylvester Stallone first made Dolph Lundgren a huge action star as Russian boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. This spawned roles in films like Masters Of The Universe, Showdown In Little Tokyo, Universal Soldier, and Johnny Mnemonic. As his career cooled he directed films like The Defender, The Mechanik, Missionary Man, Command Performance, and Icarus.
After a long career lull, the Swedish actor returned to success with Sylvester Stallone as Gunnar Jensen in the all-star action film The Expendables. Now the 54 year-old reprises his role in The Expendables 2.
Lundgren talks about doing an action film in his 50’s.
“I don’t know,” Dolph says of it, “You just get more sore, you have more pain at the end of the day. But you’ve still got to do this stuff. You’ve still got to do your stunts and do your fights and run around with a pack on.”
It was brought up to Dolph the notion of, ‘If everything hurts, what’s another injury?’
“I know, exactly,” Lundgren says, “That’s how I look at it. You’ve just got to train a lot before you come in. So, you come in at peak shape. Then you got Bulgaria and eat tomatoes and you freeze your butt off for three months and don’t sleep much, and at the end you’re a wreck but you’ve made a film, kind of how it works.”
Lundgren was asked if Stallone has had difficulties still doing action films at the age of 66.
“No, no,” Dolph says of him, “He never slows down.”
Dolph talked about how Sylvester Stallone first got him to do The Expendables
“Well, from my perspective I met him when I was 27, did Rocky IV,” he recalls, “I’ve known him since then. We’ve kind of became friends. You know, suddenly he calls me two years ago, ‘Hey, Dolph, check out this script and see what you think.’ Then suddenly it’s like, wow, this is a Swedish guy who drinks a lot and kills people. Okay. Maybe
Dolph Lundgren
"Can Still Deliver a Mean Right Hook!"
“But it was a cool character with a big arch and an interesting, emotional journey,” Lundgren adds, “Then the second time around, we kind of wanted to bring out some of the humorous sides. He’s still the same hardworking guy is the way I look at it. He’s the one that, you know, apart from Clint Eastwood, I guess, in the whole world has done the most action movies. I would think the biggest action movies. So, that’s why people look up to him because he’s proven himself.”
Lundgren talked about how he maintained his relationship with Stallone between Rocky IV and The Expendables films.
“We didn’t stay that close,” Dolph says, “Obviously, we were quite close when he beat me up in the ring in the 15th round and I beat him up in the third round, then he got the upper hand. That’s what the script said. So, we got close because we trained together and we spared.”
“Once you spar with somebody, as you know in martial arts, you get to know them,” he continues, “It’s on a different level than just acting and talking. So, we kind of met each other once and a while and talked and had dinner. But it was just this Expendables script that he came up with. Another franchise that he created which brought us together again. So, it hasn’t changed that much. I guess we’ve become a bit closer.”
It was asked if a relationship with another actor ever gets heated in the middle of sparring.
“Well, it can get heated,” Lundgren says, “But you’re not really…you know, in any combat sport when you’re sparring you’re sparring against yourself. You’re trying to become
Dolph Lundgren
"Can Still Deliver a Mean Right Hook!"
“But we shot that picture,” he adds, “You do get hit because in those days it was all in camera. There was no CGI. If you said CGI in 1985 people would look at you like excuse me? So, everything had to be in camera, which means you had to be more exact.”
Lundgren talks about what to expect from The Expendables 2 that was not present in its predecessor.
“The only thing that they’ve added is more blood because the producer was trying to go for PG-13 to make more money,” Dolph says, “I guess you get 20% more at the box office or something.”
“So anytime anybody, especially Jason [Statham], being an east-ender from London, fucking this and he’s… cut, ‘Can you say it without the f-word?’” he adds, “You know, basically you’re trying to prevent the rating. But I think it was a good idea to go for an R. That’s what people expect.”
Dolph also touched on his current training regimen and what it was like to work with newcomer Jean-Claude Van Damme, who plays villain Jean Vilain in the film.
“Well, training regimen is pretty much the way it’s always been,” Lundgren says, “I lift some weights, I do martial arts, lift weights a couple times a week. I do martial arts a couple times a week and some cardio a couple times a week like swimming or running or something like that. So, between four and five, six days a week. But if I travel, maybe two days, three days a week. It varies. But I try to keep the functionality alive in my training so that big muscles aren’t really that great in films. You have to be able to move. Even in real life, I was never into bodybuilding really. That’s how I trained.”
“And Jean Claude, look, we go back 20 some
Dolph Lundgren
"Can Still Deliver a Mean Right Hook!"
Lundgren talks about what it was like seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger return to action, reprising his cameo role in the film.
“I thought he was a little bit nervous though when he first showed up,” Dolph says, “He walked into that warehouse and we were all standing there with grenades and guns. It was you me, Sly, Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews. There’s like seven, eight big guys all knowing each other. He had to walk straight in because he flew in that morning and he had to walk right in and do the scene. It’s kind of tough for anybody, but he did pretty good.”
”He just seemed a little bit, like the first time you get back on a fast motorcycle,” he adds, “You don’t want to drive way. You kind of take…you gradually ease your way up. But he caught on fast, I thought. He was funny because Stallone likes to improvise a lot. He’ll throw you a line while the cameras are rolling. He’ll go, ‘Hey, try this.’ ‘What?’ ‘Say this.’ Okay. So, he gave him all these lines because my character cut him loose in the beginning there. He came up to say to me. He was like, ‘Cut me loose, Frankenstein.’ Or whatever his line is. Then after we cut Arnold comes up and says, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t write the line. I’m sorry. I apologize. I didn’t mean to insult you.’ It’s like don’t worry. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s just a movie.”
Dolph was asked about whether a lot of the cast’s personal experiences and backgrounds are being drawn for the characters in
Dolph Lundgren
"Can Still Deliver a Mean Right Hook!"
“For the second one more so because Sly realized it’s more about comedy, big action,” Lundgren says, “I just played a drunk Swede. It’s easy.”
Lundgren also talks about what he has coming up next.
“Well, I just did a film in Malaysia,” he reveals, “I shot a movie there. There’s this film called Raid. I don’t know if you’ve seen it. It’s like an action movie. There’s a lot of a new film industry there in Malaysia and Indonesia that’s kind of interesting. I did it from over there. A lot of action like with zombies and robots and stuff like that. I did that, which is very, very actiony.”
“Then I got a film shooting in October, which there’s no action at all,” Dolph adds, “I play a supporting role and it’s written by an actress who plays the lead. It’s kind of like a Rocky story but a female character who comes from the Midwest to make it as a stripper in LA. So, it’s about that world. It’s kind of interesting because it’s hard R, a lot of sex and violence and drugs. I play this kind of supporting kind of…it’s almost like a Chris Walken type of character who’s like a criminal mastermind. So, that’s kind of fun. No roundhouse kicks or backflips in that one.”
