Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone’s good friendship is well known in the land of Hollywood. Their friendship, over the years, has been well documented on the internet thanks to the two often being candid about each other. And now 6 movies and 35 years later, Lungdren describes his co-star as family.They first met on the set of Rocky IV but Lundgren was also slated to star in Rambo 2 which was released the same year. However, Lundgren was let go from the Vietnam-war-based action film after Stallone realized that it was the same guy he was fighting for in both movies and instead hired his bodyguard for Rambo.
Dolph Lundgren Was Paid $6000 After Being Replaced By Sylvester Stallone’s Bodyguard
Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone starred together for the first time in the movie “Rocky IV”, and since then their friendship has led to numerous other joint works. Although these two appeared in several films after “Rocky IV”, Lundgren also had to play the main role in “Rambo”. The first blood.Released in the same year, with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role, Lundgren would have played the bad guy in both films. Therefore, when the producers found out about this, they replaced Lundgren in “Rambo” with one of Stallone’s bodyguards and instead paid the actor $6,000 for it (via “Details with Graham Bensinger”).
“I had an agent who got me up for a role in Rambo 2 as this Russian bad guy who ended up being played by one of Sly’s bodyguard. So when I went out for Rocky IV, and Sly realized that ‘Hang on a minute, this is the same guy fighting me in Rambo 2. So they paid me… 6 grand or something.”
So for Rocky IV, Lundgren was paid for both films as compensation after he was replaced by one of Stallone’s bodyguards. Fortunately for the Swedish actor, his career took off after playing Ivan Drago.
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Sylvester Stallone And Dolph Lundgren Are Very Close Friends Now
Despite their ups and downs, as well as their somewhat rocky relationship, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren remain close friends. During a conversation with Graham Bensinger, the actor even called Stallone family of sorts. Speaking to ET, Lundgren noted:“Over the years, it’s grown to a pretty close personal relationship. I’d say he’s the actor that I’m closest to in Hollywood. I would say, him and Arnold Schwarzenegger. We’ve done six movies together over 35 years. He has three daughters, and I have two, and they’re friendly. We don’t talk every day, but we do have a good relationship.”