Dolph Lundgren Reflects on a Rocky IV Incident
Dolph Lundgren recently shared his thoughts on a well-known moment from the making of *Rocky IV*.
He admitted that he still feels a twinge of guilt about breaking a rib during a fight scene with Sylvester Stallone. During a chat on *FOX & Friends*, Lundgren was asked if he felt responsible for the mishap, which occurred during one of the film’s intense sequences.
“I didn’t know that happened. We were both taking hits,” Lundgren recalled. “We filmed in Vancouver for about two weeks, then returned to L.A. The producer called me and said, ‘Hey Dolph, you’ve got two weeks off.’ I was a bit surprised. Then I found out, ‘Sly is in the hospital.'”
Lundgren, known for his role as Ivan Drago, expressed surprise at the news.
“I felt a bit guilty. He hit me too. He was in charge, and I was just following orders. We both went hard, you know, that Russian uppercut. It’s hard to say if it was my body giving out or the punch, but he got hurt. It weighs on me a little,” he reflected.
Before becoming Ivan Drago, Lundgren ventured into a very different career path, deeply rooted in academics and engineering.
He was once studying at MIT as a Fulbright Scholar.
However, his trajectory shifted after meeting influential individuals in New York.
“I was in New York hanging out with a singer at Studio 54, bumped into Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson, and others. I was modeling at the time when someone suggested I try acting, especially since I was a European karate champion,” Lundgren recounted on *FOX & Friends*.
The Swedish-born actor found his big break in *Rocky IV*, quickly crafting a notable career in action films.
<p”I applied for a boxing movie, and it just happened to be Rocky IV. I moved to Hollywood, met Sly, landed the role, and the rest is, well, history. I’ve done about 95 films since and it’s been quite a journey,” he shared.
Even with a career that includes nearly 100 films, Lundgren mentioned that his favorite role remains his return to Ivan Drago in *Creed II*.
This film gave him the chance to explore fresh dimensions in his character’s relationship with Victor Drago.
<p“Creed II was a great experience,” Lundgren stated. “I got to portray an older version of my character, diving into that father-son dynamic. I really enjoyed that depth.”
Shifting from on-screen combat to entrepreneurship, Lundgren has recently launched his own vodka brand, Hard Cut Vodka.
He explained that the idea for his vodka stemmed from years of disappointment with existing options.
<p”Five years ago, I couldn’t find a vodka I liked. My wife suggested, ‘Why not make your own? You’ve got the chemical engineering background, you’ve played a Russian a few times, and you’re from Sweden!’ That got the ball rolling, and here I am now,” he detailed.
