“Would Have Never Caught Us Dead…”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Opens Up on Rival Turned Friend Sylvester Stallone

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone met in 1977 at that year’s Golden Globe Awards. However, they both got off on the wrong foot after Arnold won his award. From that moment, an iconic Hollywood rivalry was born that would continue for the next decade as each star became more popular with every subsequent movie.

However, in the following decades, both stars put their rivalry to rest and even became good friends. They’ve also starred in multiple projects together. Recently, Arnold opened up on why the pair set aside their iconic rivalry.

What Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have realized

In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent newsletter, the Hollywood star revealed he had invited Sylvester Stallone to his office. The “Terminator” actor revealed Sly had never seen his office and wrote, “I sprung a pumpkin carving on him at the last minute.” And soon the pair were “Carving pumpkins like little kids.” Arnie also wrote, “Thirty years ago, you would have never caught us dead doing this. Our egos wouldn’t allow it.”

In the 80s, Arnold and Stallone were the two biggest action stars in Hollywood. The pair were constantly trying to best the other in every box office metric. However, now that the “Terminator” is 76, and “Rambo” is 75, none of that matters. Arnold wrote, “We became friends instead of rooting against each other all the time, and now we actually cheer for each other.”

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Arnold wrote that both he and Sly stopped treating the situation like combat sports athletes. They learned both stars could co-exist and make great movies without stepping on each other’s toes. “It took Sly and I a few decades to figure out we could both succeed and be friends.”, wrote the seven-time Mr. Olympia.

Back in the 80s, the rivals even fought over who killed more bad guys on screen. Arnold once ran into Sly after 1985. Arnie told Stallone that he killed more people on screen in “Commando” than Sly did in “Rambo”. However, Stallone retorted that his character had 97 kills compared to Arnie’s character, who only had 93.

From rivals to co-stars

Arnie and Sly went from trying to one-up each other with on-screen kills to co-starring in 2013’s “Escape Plan”. The movie mirrored their real-life trajectory. Both Arnold and Sylvester’s characters start as rivals but team up by the end of the movie. Escape Plan was also proof of the star power of Arnie and Sly. It was an international blockbuster and grossed over $135 million, while the budget was only around $50 million.

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Arnold and Stallone had a bitter rivalry in the 80s and constantly tried to one-up each other. However, later both of them realized they could be successful without trying to sabotage each other at every step. Now the pair are great friends who regularly contribute towards the success of the other.