Schwarzenegger says tie-up with Stallone was decades in making
- Sylvester Stallone (L) and Arnold …
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger said he and fellow 1980s action star Sylvester Stallone
wanted to work together for decades, but it wasn't until they met up at
a hair salon that their first collaboration came together.
The "Rocky" and "Terminator" actors had talked about
uniting on screen for 20 years, Schwarzenegger said on Friday, but never
found the right script at a time when they were both free of other
commitments.
"There was always
something off. The script was not right, or the studio was not as much
interested in it as we were. ... It just didn't happen," Schwarzenegger
said at a Television Critics Association meeting, where he appeared to
promote an upcoming documentary on ESPN website Grantland.com.
"Then one day I was
sitting at my hairdresser, and Sly came up to me and he said 'oh man,
it would be so great if you could be doing just a little bit of
something in my 'Expendables' movie," said the 65-year old actor-turned
politician.
At the time,
Schwarzenegger was serving as governor of California and had put his
action movie career on hold. He said he agreed right there to film a few
hours for "Expendables" on weekends so it wouldn't take time away from
his gubernatorial duties, and that he worked for free. The movie came
out in 2010.
When
Schwarzenegger's cameo was well-received, Stallone approached him to
appear in "The Expendables 2." Schwarzenegger, who stepped down as
California governor in January 2011, said he did four days of work in
Bulgaria on the film, which reaches U.S. theaters August 17.
Their next project
came together when Stallone told the producer of upcoming film "The
Tomb" that he didn't want to make the film unless Schwarzenegger was
involved. Schwarzenegger liked the script and joined the film - one of
five movies he has in the pipeline.
While joking that
the two were "in love with each other," he said they have no plans to
work on other films together. But he added: "I'm sure 'Expendables 2' is
going to be a big hit. ... Then (Stallone) will be probably coming back
again and asking me to be in the next movie."
In another return
to the screen, Schwarzenegger will appear in a documentary short film
called "Arnold's Blueprint" that focuses on the former bodybuilder's
service in the Austrian Army.
Schwarzenegger said
his time in the military as a teenager helped shape his future career
as a bodybuilder, actor and politician. The story "is about overcoming
obstacles," he said.
Schwarzenegger said
he worked around his military training to find time for bodybuilding.
He later won bodybuilding titles, and used the sport to propel him to
international stardom.
"I had a very clear
vision of where I wanted to go," he said. "You realize you have to pay
no attention to the naysayers. When you learn those lessons in sports,
you can apply those lessons for the rest of your life," he said.
The short film will
premiere on ESPN's Grantland.com website on September 26 as part of the
network series "30 for 30 Shorts."
Schwarzenegger
announced earlier this week he was establishing a global policy
think-tank in his name at the University of Southern California that
would examine non-partisan politics.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine, editing by Jill Serjeant and Todd Eastham)
Posted by Home Magazine
on 11:20 AM.
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