Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are best known for their critical acclaim work as Hollywood’s leading action superstars. While both legendary veteran actors have earned enormous success throughout their acting careers, their box-office rivalry is no secret. Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s bitter rivalry over their professional careers throughout the 1980s and 1990s made many bombshell headlines.
The Terminator star and the Rocky series actor have, on several occasions, admitted they were both very competitive, driven, and ambitious for their careers, which led them to become box office rivals back in the 1980s. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently released a three-part Netflix documentary titled Arnold, in which he shares different aspects of his personal and professional life. The second episode includes Stallone and him discussing their rivalry.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone Discussed Their Rivalry in His New Netflix Documentary
Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting candid like never before in his newly released three-part Netflix documentary Arnold. The second episode of his docuseries saw him and his former box office enemy Sylvester Stallone discussing their rivalry. The two were the mega action stars of their generation, and during the 1980s, both entertainers ruled the silver screen with their self-assured, powerful alpha masculine personalities.
In the second episode of Schawarzenegger’s series, the actor described how he rose to fame and continued to achieve success, claiming that he “always needed an enemy” to drive himself to new heights, which he found in his co-star Sylvester Stallone.
Recalling when he and The Terminator star became competitive about everything in their careers, Sylvester Stallone shared, “In ’77, Arnold won Best Newcomer. I go, “Really?” he said.
Stallone continued,
“The ’80s; was an interesting time because the definitive “action guy” had not really been formed yet. Up until that time, the action was a car chase, like Bullitt or French connection, and a film all about “intellect” and innuendo and “verbal” this and verbal that.”
The Lords of Flatbush movie star further shared that his 1982 American action film First Blood was about action, and the whole narrative of the story relied upon his body, claiming he was the only star able to perform in such genre films. But then Arnold Schwarzenegger catapulted to fame and became his tough competition in the film industry.
Sylvester Stallone Reveals How The Terminator Star Won Their Box Office Rivalry
In Arnold episode two, Sylvester Stallone claims how his now friend Arnold Schwarzenegger outperformed him at the box office. He claimed they were trying to beat and outdo each other throughout the 1980s.
Sylvester Stallone recalls,
“With First Blood, it was about action. You actually relied upon your body to tell the story. Dialogues were not necessary. I saw that it; was an opportunity because no one else was doing this, except some other guy from Austria, who doesn’t need to say much,” the actor referred to his and Schwarzenegger’s rivalry.
The Rambo star claimed that Arnold Schwarzenegger started to “come on strong.” They became incredibly competitive, like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier or “great warriors that traveled the same course.” Stallone said he became furious as the Predator movie star became more “superior.” Arnold Schwarzenegger added that he and Stallone were at “war,” yet it was because of him he pushed himself to work hard and rose to the height of success.
Sylvester Stallone admitted that the True Lies movie actor won their rivalry at the box office by delivering back-to-back hit blockbusters while both were steadily competing in the film industry. Nevertheless, they are now good friends and have shared the silver screen together on projects such as The Expendables and Escape Plan.
Source: Screen Rant
