Going the distance
DOLPH LUNDGREN talks us through the turbulent contours of his incredible career
HIS ARRIVAL WAS explosive. In the mid-’80s, Sylvester Stallone’s third sequel to Rocky needed an embodiment of Soviet might, and Dolph Lundgren — despite hailing from Stockholm, not Moscow — fitted the bill perfectly, staring down at Stallone with contemptuous cool, then upper-cutting his way through the astonishing final-reel bout. Lundgren became an instant A-lister. And though the decades ahead were, aptly enough, rocky, with times of hardship and a fallow stretch at the box office, Lundgren persists — still an ass-kicker at 64. Here, he gives us insights into his wild ride.
ROCKY IV (1985)
Competition for the role of dastardly Drago was fierce, but the unknown Lundgren wouldn’t take no for an answer, sending Stallone photos of himself in boxing gear even after being rejected for being too tall. “Finally, it was down to me and two Russian guys,” he says. “But their acting was over-the-top — they kind of did a Russian Mr. T.