At one point, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger despised each other. Both actors had been on the rise in Hollywood since the 1970s, and as each became known for their blockbuster hits in the action genre, the competition started to get the best of them. Both Stallone and Schwarzenegger were fueled by beating one another at the box office with their new movies, bringing out their competitive nature with a goal to be the king of the genre.
Things are different now, but looking back at the situation with honesty, Stallone says that the feud was more than a friendly competition between actors at the box office. The animosity was real between the actors, though Stallone also believes that helped each of them up their game with their performances. With that said, the Rocky star also feels that it wasn't healthy to hold a grudge against the Terminator actor for as long as he did, much happier with how the two have a friendly relationship these days. Here's how Stallone put it while speaking with Forbes:
“We really disliked each other immensely. We were… this may sound a little vain, but I think we were pioneering a kind of genre at that time and it hasn’t been seen since really. So the competition, because it’s his nature, he is very competitive and so am I… and I just thought it actually helped, but off-screen we were still competitive and that was not a healthy thing at all, but we’ve become really good friends."
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger Have Since Joined Forces
At some point, both Stallone and Schwarzenegger decided that it was time to end the feud. They officially did so when Schwarzenegger was brought in for a special appearance in The Expendables in 2010; he'd reprise his role alongside Stallone in The Expendables 2 in 2012 as well as The Expendables 3 in 2014. The two also co-starred in the film Escape Plan in 2013, giving them much more screen time together. Off-camera, the two have often spent time together as well which includes recently reuniting during the Halloween season.
Schwarzenegger does not appear in The Expendables 4, and while Stallone does return, he has said that the film mostly focuses on Jason Statham's character. The movie will be released on Sept. 22, 2023. Meanwhile, Stallone can also be seen in the new series Tulsa King, streaming on Paramount+. As for Schwarzenegger, he recently did voiceover work for the animated series Little Demon on FXX and will appear in the upcoming comedy Kung Fury 2.