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The antagonist of Rocky IV , the imposing Ivan Drago, was the perfect villain for the political climate of 1985. An imposing vision of Soviet power, he faced the Scrappy, upstart Rocky , a champion of the working class of Philly, their roles reflecting the vision of the United States in itself: the American dream of any quo-cann Sylvester Stallone's Rocky ,, Dolph Lundgren , is Swedish.

Of course, Rocky triumphs over Drago in the final fight of the film, but behind the scenes, Stallone was not as lucky. Continue to read to find out how Lundgren accidentally put his co-star in the hospital for nine days while turning this culminating confrontation.

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Before being an internationally renowned actor, Lundgren was a martial champion artist. He grew up with a father who demanded and physically abusive, of the circumstances which he believed to have prompted to get involved in Contact sports such as karate and boxing , according to a biography on his personal website. At 23, he had become European champion in Kyokushin Karate.

Above the same time, he continued a master's degree in chemical engineering at the University of Sydney in Australia and the moonlight as a bouncer in nightclubs. It was during work that he was spotted by the model and the singer Grace Jones , who hired him as a bodyguard. The two ended up getting involved in a romantic way, leading him to be played in a small role in one of the next Jones projects, the 1985 thriller James Bond A view of a killing .

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When Lundgren discovered that Stallone threw a large net to find the right actor to play the villain Rocky IV , a boxer status of the Soviet Union, it Campaign for six months To land the role and was initially rejected to be too large.

Stallone explained in the backstage documentary in 2021 The manufacture of Rocky vs. Draco: keep hitting (as told by a screen diatriber) See the head of Lundgren's head In fact stimulated him to rethink the whole film. He reinvented the villain, passing Draco from a "monkey ... enormous, primitive, terrifying" to a more refined production mode of physical perfection - his "impeccable" physique standing in contrast with the embarrassment and the defects of Stallone / Rocky, said the director.

Once broke, Lundgren worked And practiced boxing and fighting choreography for five months to prepare the role, he said Muscle and fitness review.

Stallone was writer, director and star of Rocky IV - His third time leading an episode in the series of boxing dramas, and his fifth film as a director. Hoping to offer the public a visceral experience, while turning its first combat scene with Lundgren, Stallone asked his co-star of ignore the combat choreography They had repeated so that it seems more realistic, according to a retrospective of the 35th anniversary published by The Hollywood Reporter . AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"Go ahead and try to timer," Stallone told Lundgren, told by the magazine. "For the first minute of the fight, it will be a free for everyone."

During the shooting, Lundgren won an uppercut on Stallone which, without the knowledge of one or the other, did any real damage to the star.

"In the first round, where [Lundgren] overthrew me, it's for real," Stallone recalled in 2020 While promoting a director re -entered on the film, as quoted by the Daily Mail. "He pulverized me and I did not feel it at that time, but later in the night, my heart started to swell. He had bruised the pericardial bag, it is when the heart strikes the chest - Like a car accident when your chest strikes the steering wheel. "

The injury was serious enough that Stallone had to be admitted to the hospital - and things could have been very bad. "My blood pressure increased to 260," said Stallone. "They thought I was going to talk to the angels."

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"We first turned the last fight, then the producer called me and told me" Well, you had two weeks of leave "" " Lundgren remembered in an interview in 2024 with Fox News . When he asked why he learned that Stallone had been sent to the hospital.

"He directed, acted, fighting me, who was 10 years younger ... fighting me 12 hours a day, realizing and producing and writing," continued Lundgren. "I think he was under a lot of pressure and stress. We were both touched. Someone named Ivan Draco struck him in the coast and died the muscle of the heart."

According to The Hollywood Reporter , Stallone finally spent nine days in the hospital recovering from her injury, then returned to finish the film. And there was no resentment with Lundgren - not only he co -star with Stallone The Expendables Franchise, he also resumed the role of Ivan Drago in 2018 CREDO II .

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