Sylvester Stallone is addressing one of his famous rivalries: Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the two leading action stars of the '80s, the pair were in constant competition over cultural cachet and box office dominance. In a recent interview, Stallone revealed that it all started with a look at the Golden Globes, with him throwing a flower bowl Schwarzenegger's way.
© GettyIn an appearance on "The Rest is Entertainment" podcast, Stallone revealed that the two were "antagonistic" with each other from the moment they first met. He recalls Schwarzenegger giving him a look at the Golden Globes, and Stallone throwing a flower bowl at him the next time they met.
“I made like I was celebrating, like, ‘yay,” he said. “And the gauntlet was thrown, and it was on.”
© Getty ImagesStallone shared that the two kept feeding their rivalry, which in turn inspired them to become better action stars. “It was very contentious, trust me, which I enjoyed,” he said.
“Because the madder i made him, the madder he made me, the more we fought to make the next action film — bigger knife, louder gun, more body count, this and that, better location. It just kept elevating.”
How the two resolved their feud
© Sygma via Getty ImagesWhile the two often attended events together and were founders and investors in the restaurant Planet Hollywood, they squashed their rivalry by the aughts, once Schwarzenegger was elected as Governor of California, and both men had grown older.
The two met at a cigar shop and decided to move on with their lives, with Schwarzenegger making a switch to politics. They are now friends and have starred in movies together, including "The Expendables" franchise and "The Escape Plan." And while the financial edge of their rivalry is gone, Stallone makes it clear that they're still "competitive."
"That’s the nature of the beast and I enjoy it," said Stallone. He added that the rivalry between two big-screen actors working in the same genre is something that no longer exists and that will "never happen again."
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