Dolph Lundgren Wishes Arnold Schwarzenegger Happy Birthday With Hilarious Story – CBR – Comic Book Resources
Dolph Lundgren wished his fellow ’80s action movie icon Arnold Schwarzenegger a happy 73rd birthday by reminiscing about the first times they ever met.
The Creed II actor posted a photo of them together, with Lundgren giving Schwarzenegger a shoulder rub as the latter chomped on a cigar. In his post, Lundgren revealed that he initially met Schwarzenegger “on the set of Conan The Destroyer in 1983, when I was still a fighter and engineering student.” This was an early point in Schwarzenegger’s acting career, with the Conan films predating his breakout role as the T-800 in James Cameron’s iconic 1984 sci-fi film The Terminator.
Lundgren then described their second encounter, at a house party hosted by his girlfriend, Grace Jones. According to his recollection, “There was a knock on my door at midnight and when I yelled: ‘Who the hell is it?’ The response came: ‘It’s your trainer! I’m here to check your abs!’ When I opened the door, There he was – a big smile on his face, smoking a fat Cuban cigar.”
Lundgren’s action career began with his breakout role as Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in 1985’s Rocky IV, famously killing Apollo Creed in the ring during their match. He would later reprise this role in 2018’s Creed II, which saw Drago and his son challenge Adonis Creed more than thirty years after Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) defeated him in the Soviet Union, thus harming Drago’s national reputation.
Both Lundgren and Stallone would star alongside Schwarzenegger in the Expendables franchise, which featured numerous iconic Hollywood action heroes as a group of highly-trained mercenaries whose exploits regularly paid homage to action movies of their era.
Lundgren’s most recent roles include the upcoming animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru and King Nereus in James Wan’s Aquaman. An Aquaman sequel is scheduled to be released in 2022, though it is unknown if Lundgren will reprise his role.