But, there was a time when the 65-year-old Swedish actor and Sly Stone almost got into it for real on set.
In a new episode of In Depth with Graham Besinger, Dolph recalled a moment on the set of 2010’s The Expendables where things got a little heated between the action stars.
“We had some good times and bad times, kinda like family to some degree,” Dolph said about Sylvester, whom he’s collaborated with on 1985’s Rocky IV, and 2018’s Creed II as the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago.
Dolph and Sylvester also starred in the three installments of the action-packed ensemble The Expendables, and one time things got spicy on the set of the first film. “He was very harsh on me in a scene in Expendables 1, where he kinda yelled at me in front of the whole crew and had me do about 20 takes on a scene,” he said.
“It was like, ‘My grandmother could do it better than that. What the fuck, what are you doing?’ You know, basically in front of everybody. And there was press there that day, too, international press.”
“We took a lunch break and I remember, I was kind of in tears. I was really upset,” Dolph continued. “I called my wife at the time, and I basically just told her, ‘If he says one more word, I’m gonna knock him out, and fuck this movie, I’m outta here. I’m just gonna punch him out and fucking leave.'”
Fortunately, the pair of muscled veterans have a history, and it didn’t end like the 15th round in Rocky IV. After Dolph returned to The Expendables set that day, he “had a tap on the back, and it was Sly.”
“He was like, ‘Uh, I’m sorry about that. Let’s just do another take and let’s just keep moving on,’ ” Dolph recalled. “And we’ve had a few run-ins over the years, but what can I say, he’s a crazy Italian. I think he knows that I’ve always respected him and loved him, and I think that’s why we’re still friends.”
Good thing things died down. In 2020, Sylvester Stallone told The Hollywood Reporter that an uppercut from Dolph on the set of Rocky IV sent him to the hospital for nine days. “I knew I was in trouble when I showed up and nuns met you at the ICU.”
Whew. I’m glad they worked it out in the end.
