Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses his rivalry with Sylvester Stallone: I always need an enemy
File image of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone
In the 1980s, Hollywood had two action superstars competing for the top spot. Both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone ruled the box office with their action films. The two stars were often pitted against each other. Years later, Schwarzenegger has admitted that he went head to head in a heated rivalry against actor and 'enemy' Sylvester Stallone.
"I always need an enemy," Schwarzenegger, 75, revealed during his Netflix documentary, Arnold."Every time he came out with a movie, like Rambo II,I had to figure out a way of now outdoing that."Schwarzenegger worked on Commando in 1985, soon after Stallone's Rambo II released.
"We were incredibly antagonistic. We couldn’t even stand to be in the same room. People had to separate us," Stallone, 76, recalled in the documentary.
Stallone compared their rivalry to Ali versus Frazier, but called himself the underdog who "got my ass kicked constantly". According to Stallone, Schwarzenegger typically emerged from his cinematic exploits with barely a scratch.
"Arnold started to come on strong… (we were) great warriors that are travelling the same course. There was only room for one of us," Stallone confessed.
"We were competing about everything," Schwarzenegger admitted. "The body being ripped and oiled up. Who is more vicious? Who is more tough? Who uses bigger knives? Who uses bigger guns?"
Stallone admitted that despite the stiff competition, his films eventually got knocked out by Schwarzenegger at the box office.
"He wanted to be number one. Unfortunately, he got there," Stallone laughed.
"Sly and I were at war… Without Stallone, I maybe wouldn’t have been as motivated during the ‘80s to do the kind of movies I did and work as hard as I did."
Although Schwarzenegger and Stallone’s relationship got off to a rocky start, it did not remain rocky forever.
In fact, the two Hollywood legends eventually shared screen space in movies like Escape Plan and The Expendables franchise.Schwarzenegger and Stallone are currently working on The Expendables 4 together, which is set to release later in September this year.
Schwarzenegger’s documentary, Arnold is available to stream on Netflix.
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