The rivalry between Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the biggest rivalries in the Hollywood industry. Though their rivalry went on for more than 20 years, they are currently very good friends.
There was a point in time when their rivalry was at its peak and they began spoiling the other’s image by introducing a look-alike character in their movies and beating them up for insulting them. They even started a fight at the Golden Globe Awards once and some people got hurt as things were flying over the table.
Their Meet in the 1977 Golden Globe Award Show
In the 1977 Golden Globe Award Ceremony, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were both present, and it was informed to Stallone beforehand that he would be packing home multiple awards. But it turned out that not only did he not win the awards, but his movie Rocky was also losing to other movies.
Now to add salt to Stallone’s wounds, Schwarzenegger sat opposite to him at the table and constantly commented on his loss and was clearly happy about the fact that he couldn’t win any awards. But after some time when Rocky finally won an award for Best Motion Picture, while being in a hype of rush and excitement, Stallone went straight for Arnold Schwarzenegger with a flower bowl and threw it towards his head.
Though he dodged the flower bowl, they started a fight there which lasted for over two decades, as some describe it as an unpleasant scenario. Stallone said,
“I managed to grab this giant bowl of flowers, and heaved it in his direction. It had lilies and tulips… It began a ten-year battle royale. And I thought: ‘The gauntlet is down.'”
The two started making movies where they made fun of each other. In one of Sylvester Stallone’s movies, he beat up an Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alike character, and Schwarzenegger in his movie made fun of the Rambo movie poster. Stallone also said that while beating up Schwarzenegger’s look-alike he imagined it to be him in person and also described their relationship as “violent hatred” and “couldn’t stand to be in the same galaxy”.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Last Laugh over Sylvester Stallone
In 1992, Arnold Schwarzenegger was approached for a script Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, which he refused because the plot was very bad. On the contrary, when Stallone was approached with the same script he accepted it because Arnold Schwarzenegger had previously told him that the plot was good and he would be starring in the movie. So for stealing the role from Schwarzenegger he even worked hard for the role.
The movie went on to be a failure as it only accumulated $70 million at the box office and Schwarzenegger had the last laugh. Arnold Schwarzenegger shared,
“It’s 100 percent true. In those days we did all kinds of crazy things to get ahead in our rivalry. Luckily for us and everyone else, today, we root for each other. Thank God, because we sure don’t ever need another Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.”
Though they were at each other’s throats all the time, the pair are good friends now and also made 4 movies together which were The Expandables series.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
