Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are two of the biggest action stars in Hollywood history. They have starred in some of the most popular and successful action movies of all time, including the “Rocky” and “Terminator” franchises.
However, the two actors have also had a long-standing rivalry. In the past, they have traded barbs in the press and on social media.
But recently Stallone said that Schwarzenegger was a “superior” action star even after years of animosity and competition between the two celebrities.
“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone said in the newly released Netflix documentary “Arnold,” per IndieWire. “Up until that time, action was a car chase like ‘Bullitt’ or ‘The French Connection.’ A film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”
Stallone also said that Schwarzenegger was one of the first actors to make action movies more focused on the actor rather than the project.
“You actually relied upon your body to tell the story,” the “Rocky” lead said. “Dialogue was not necessary. I saw that there was an opportunity, because no one else was doing this except some other guy from Austria, who doesn’t need to say much… He was superior. He just had all the answers. He had the body. He had the strength. That was his character.”
“I had to get my ass kicked constantly, whereas Arnold, he never got hurt much,” Stallone said of their different on-screen personas. “And I’m going, ‘Arnold, you could go out and fight a dragon and you’d come back with a Band-Aid.’”
Schwarzenegger had some kind words for Stallone: “Every time he came out with a movie like ‘Rambo II,’ I had to figure out a way of now outdoing that. Without Stallone, I maybe wouldn’t have been as motivated in the ’80s to do the kind of movies that I did and to work as hard as I did. I’m a competitive person,” the Austrian-born actor said.
Sylvester Stallone says ex-rival Arnold Schwarzenegger was the “superior” action star 👀 pic.twitter.com/Bnv5abRKCv
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 13, 2023
