Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger opened up about their past rivalry in a new docuseries all about the latter’s life and career, with Stallone conceding that Schwarzenegger was a “superior” action hero.
While the two Hollywood legends are now good friends, and even starred in the likes of “The Expendables” and “Escape Plan” together, things weren’t always smooth sailing and throughout the last quarter of the 20th century they were major box office rivals.
Speaking in “Arnold,” which is now streaming on Netflix, the two stars reminisced about their decades-long feud which began when Stallone recognized in the early 1980s that no one else was exploring the newly emerging action genre in the same way he was “except some other guy from Austria.”
Schwarzenegger acknowledged that Stallone had a head start with the first two “Rocky” films under his belt before the actor-turned-politician’s own first major movie, “Conan the Barbarian,” was released in 1982.
“Sly was ahead of me in the ’80s so it was for me to catch up,” Schwarzenegger said. “Every time he came out with a movie like ‘Rambo II,’ I had to now figure out a way of outdoing that.”
Stallone said that with the likes of “Red Sonja,” “Commando,” and his career-defining role in “The Terminator,” Schwarzenegger “started to come on strong” and eventually outdo him.
Stallone said that while he typically played the underdog who was “not overly gifted” and “got my ass kicked constantly,” Schwarzenegger’s on-screen alter egos typically emerged victorious with barely a scratch on them.
“He just had all the answers. He had the body. He had the strength. That was his character,” he said. “Arnold, he never got hurt too much, and I’m going, ‘Arnold, you could go out and fight a dragon and you’d come back with a Band-Aid.'”
“He wanted to be number one. Unfortunately, he got there,” Stallone conceded.
Stallone described their rivalry as akin to heavyweight boxing champions “Ali and Frazier,” and said they both felt like “there was only room for one of us.”
“We were competing about everything,” Schwarzenegger added. “The body being ripped and oiled up. Who is more vicious. Who is more tough. Who uses bigger knives. Who uses bigger guns. Sly and I were at war. ”
“We were incredibly antagonistic. We couldn’t even stand to be in the same room. People had to separate us,” Stallone recalled.
Stallone said that the two had “different styles of acting” and in retrospect, he recognizes that Schwarzenegger’s was “superior.”
Schwarzenegger, a graceful victor, said that he credits his competition with Stallone for helping push him further and further in his career.
“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,” the actor said.