The Expendables is shaping up to be the magnum opus of action movies, with nearly every current and former tough-guy actor and action superstar on board to tell the story of a group of "expendable" mercenaries who team up to overthrow an evil South American dictator. Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables has been described as Sly's answer to today's "soft" action heroes.
One of the starring tough guys in The Expendables is Dolph Lundgren, Stallone's Rocky IV nemesis. In a recent interview with Movieweb, Lundgren confirmed that Stallone is hoping to bring back the days of the "real" action hero.
I never came with a conscious plan to replace anyone else. Stallone does feel that way. He is a real tough guy in real life, and he gets to act that out. If you meet him and work with him, he is what he is. He is a guy that works out every day. And he fires guns. That's what he does. People's tastes vary and change. I guess there have been a lot of actors that have been trained to fight and look tough, starting with The Matrix. Now, Stallone figures that he is going to put some real men out there. That is why he hires people like me, who are big and used to do sports for real. That's why he's picked guys like [Randy] Couture and [Jason] Statham, and [Jet] Lee.
Lundgren said that he considers Stallone a mentor and was grateful for the "great character" that Stallone wrote for him in The Expendables.
[My character is] crazy but funny. In a comedic way. He's a good guy and a bad guy at the same time. Stallone really pushed me to get those comedic moments to work. It's something that I hadn't really ever done before. It was hard for me, especially with Stallone directing. And we have all of these other guys there. Stallone is a pretty tough director. You don't mess with him. But those scenes certainly proved that comedy in these types of films is very important. I think it works for me. Maybe that will be my secret weapon in the future of my career. I hope, anyway.
As for the future, Lundgren is unsure whether The Expendables will be a one-off or the start of a franchise.
Stallone is huge on sequels. I don't know what is going to happen. Even so, I think people are going to love this film. And want another one. They are going to be thrilled by what they see on that screen. Especially when I am going up against Sly. We are both friends and enemies in this movie. I think it's going to be really good.