Here’s the role Dolph Lundgren almost played in Rambo: First Blood Part 2. First Blood was a big hit in Sylvester Stallone’s career, and at one point he was so intimidated by the dirty first cut of the film that he offered to buy the negative so he could just destroy it. And after several extensive reworks, the film turned into a tense thriller based on Stallone’s excellent performance. However, the second film had a very different approach than First Blood.”
When creating Rambo First Blood Part II Stallone decided it was time to see the protagonist do what he does best when he returns to Vietnam, which is to wage war. The bombastic action scenes made the film a huge success, and Rambo himself became a cult action hero.
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Rambo 2 was released in 1985, the same year as Rocky IV, in which the protagonist Stallone confronted the bumbling Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Drago was Dolph Lundgren’s first film role, which made him an overnight star. However, he was actually in both Rambo: First Blodd Part II and Rocky 4, and ended up getting roles in both. Some sources erroneously claim that he was cast as the bumbling Russian villain Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky (Stephen Birkoff), but he was actually cast as his henchman, Sergeant Yushin. Lundgren spoke in a chat with Yahoo! that he first landed the role of Yushin, the hulking Russian who tortures Rambo and then fights him in a helicopter.
But after a long search, Lundgren was chosen to play Drago and he had already been dropped from the role of Yushin, with actor Vojo Gorich ending up playing her Lundgren’s place.
The role of Drago from “Rocky 4” was undoubtedly an important part of Lundgren’s career, so in the end everything worked out. Stallone and Dolph have reunited many times in recent years, including the Expendables trilogy and Lundgren belatedly returning as Drago in Creed 2. And Rambo 2’s Vojo Gorich would later make several appearances alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in Films such as as “Universal Soldier”.
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