Back in 2012, Jason Momoa starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in a film that saw the latter revisit his time as an action genre legend. Walter Hill’s Bullet to the Head had the two actors pit against each other, with one being an axe-wielding mercenary and the other being a hitman.
Since it was his first time working with Stallone, Jason Momoa was giddy with excitement. In fact, he was so over the moon that he obliged Sylvester Stallone’s request to revisit his Rocky days. When the actor proposed that he could “throw a couple in the ribs,” Jason Momoa was all for the idea. However, while the fight scenes might have been fun, he was a little apprehensive about going up against Sylvester Stallone and his “slabs of meat”-like fists.
Sylvester Stallone Wanted to Punch Jason Momoa
In an interview with Collider, Jason Momoa recalled how Sylvester Stallone came up to him and stated that he had an idea where he could lock Momoa up and “throw a couple in the ribs,” during a fight scene. While Momoa was all for the idea, he wanted to be a bit on the safer side as Stallone talked about his fight scenes with Dolph Lundgren in Rocky.
“And he’s telling stories about him and Dolph and there are production stills of him just sinking it into his ribs and I’m like, ‘Well, I can put a pad in here.’ And he’s like, ‘No, no. I’ll pull the punch. I’ll pull.’ I’m like, ‘Alright.’ OK. I’ve got this f***er on tape, too. He comes in and he lights me up three times. It’s like BOOM, two, three. And it’s just that pace. One. Two. Three. And the third one, I was like, ‘Aww I felt it.’”
Despite all this, Momoa found it to be the “coolest thing in the world” as he was fighting with none other than the legend, Rocky, himself. Once, while talking to Men’s Health, Momoa stated that he did not want to “clip” his co-star even by mistake, as he was intimidated by his fists.
“At the end of Bullet to the Head I had to swing this wooden axe at top speed right at Stallone and you don’t really want to clip him. He’s got these slabs of meat for fists.”
Momoa sure had fun on the sets of Bullet to the Head, even though he got rocked by Rocky. Well, to be fair, the actor did enjoy the fight scenes with the action legend!
Jason Momoa Praises Sylvester Stallone
Momoa opened up about what it was truly like working with Stallone to Toronto Star where he once again stated that nothing could be cooler than “fighting Rocky with an axe.” However, this time the Aquaman actor had a lot more to say about his co-star.
Calling him a great man and a good leader, Momoa went on and on about Stallone, his personality traits, and how he inspires people to do great things.
“He’s amazing. He’s exactly what you think he is, times ten. He’s a great man, and a good leader. He commands the set; he sets the tone. He’s very giving as an actor. He inspires people…I really wanted to learn from him how he balanced the writing, directing, and acting…that’s no mean feat. I mean, he’s an Oscar-winning writer. You can’t say that about a lot of actors…And then to have the longevity that he has. He’s a bull. He’s 62 years old and he’s still got it.”
Unfortunately, Bullet to the Head could not perform well at the box office as it grossed just above $22 million on a budget of $55 million. Critics weren’t a fan either as the film scored a meager 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score also sits low at 39%. Well, at least Momoa got to live out his dream of fighting against Stallone.