Little-Known Information About Dolph Lundgren Is Making His Fans A Bit Uneasy

Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, Hans “Dolph” Lundgren wasn’t at all like the brawny, intimidating Ivan Drago he would eventually portray on the screen. In fact, he was quite the opposite, suffering from a range of allergies and showing no natural aptitude for sports. Still, what he lacked in the physical department, he more than made up for with his intelligence.

Speaking to NPR in 2014, Lundgren admitted, “I wasn’t very good at sports. So my kind of way to feel like I was somebody was to answer all the questions the teacher asked.” But it was his brainpower, particularly his talent for chemical engineering, that helped Lundgren to pursue his childhood dream to live in the United States.

Lundgren’s family just didn’t have the financial means to send him over to the U.S. themselves. So, Lundgren knew he had to act and use his academic abilities to propel himself forward. He did just that, which led to a range of scholarship opportunities from top universities across the globe.

After studying in America, as well as back home at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, Lundgren’s next stop was Australia, where he attended the University of Sydney. While down under, Lundgren nurtured a keen interest in martial arts and also started working security at events. Little did he know that this job would serve as his window into stardom.

As a bouncer, Lundgren worked at gigs for stars including Dr. Hook, Joan Armatrading, and Grace Jones. While assigned to Jones’ dressing room, Lundgren realized the pop star had taken a shine to him. Soon, the unknown kid from Sweden did the seemingly impossible: he entered into a romance with an A-list celebrity.

When reflecting back on how Jones influenced his path, Lundgren simply stated, “She changed it big time.” He wasn’t wrong, as soon enough, the couple jetted off to America, where Lundgren would continue his studies at MIT. But before that, Jones decided it was time to give her boyfriend a taste of the high life.

The couple’s first stop was New York City, where Jones took Lundgren to the iconic nightclub Studio 54. There, he was approached by legendary artist Andy Warhol. Intrigued by Lundgren’s appearance, Warhol asked him what he was famous for. “Nothing, as far as I know,” Lundgren replied. Still, Warhol decided Lundgren would be the perfect candidate for a magazine photoshoot.

Following this unique encounter, Lundgren set out to begin his Fulbright scholarship at MIT. Despite being accompanied by his celebrity girlfriend, the Swedish student struggled to settle back into his studies after getting a taste of the showbiz spotlight. Suddenly, he reconsidered his academic goals and returned with Jones to the Big Apple.

As a martial arts enthusiast, Lundgren loved action movies. Among his favorites was the Rocky film franchise. So, as preparations for Rocky IV got underway, a casting call was made and Lundgren’s interest was piqued. Desperate to appear in the film, Lundgren attended the auditions, only to be brushed aside for being “too tall.” Despite the rejection, Lundgren refused to give up.

Lundgren was determined to feature in the franchise he loved so much. Leveraging his celebrity links, he snapped some photographs of himself dressed as a boxer and sent them to Sylvester Stallone himself. Then, in a moment of utter disbelief, Lundgren received unbelievable news: he was invited to meet with Stallone in Los Angeles.

During their meeting, it was clear Stallone was fond of the unknown Lundgren. The movie star wannabe trained to condition his body for the movie, and after doing a screen test he received the role of the movie’s main villain. But little did Stallone know just how tough Lundgren truly was off screen.

As filming began, it was decided the first scene to be shot would be the final showdown in the ring between Rocky and Ivan Drago. Also serving as director, Stallone instructed Lundgren to hit him hard during the opening round of the fight to show the audience just how tough Drago really is. Unfortunately for Stallone, this decision brought him relentless pain.

Following Stallone’s instruction, Lundgren delivered blow after blow and unwittingly dealt Stallone some life-threatening damage. “He pulverized me,” Stallone admitted, speaking in a documentary called The Making of Rocky vs. Drago. Stallone didn’t actually realize the full extent of the damage at first, but he was soon rushed for emergency care as his life lay in the balance.

During the night following the shoot, Stallone’s heart swelled up. Suffering from a swollen pericardial sac — which surrounds the heart — Stallone’s heart rate raced to 260. The next thing he knew, “Sly” was on a flight from Canada to St. John’s Hospital in California in order to receive vital medical treatment.

A battered Stallone spent the next four days in intensive care, where he gradually made his recovery. Unbelievably, Stallone flew straight back to the set afterward, where he and Lundgren resumed their bout. What’s more, Stallone decided to keep the footage of Lundgren’s potentially fatal attack on him in the film. “How could you take that out?” Stallone humorously asked.

Proving himself to be just as formidable as his character, all that was left was for Lundgren to discover what the public thought of his fearsome acting abilities. That moment finally came in November 1985, as he and then-girlfriend Grace Jones made their way down the red carpet at the Rocky IV premiere. Would this boxing film provide Lundgren with the career launchpad he desperately needed?

Despite Lundgren starring in the movie, it was Grace Jones who was the center of attention as they went inside. The tables were turned as soon as the premiere ended, however. “I remember coming out onto the street, and suddenly people are taking pictures of me, and not Grace,” a flabbergasted Lundgren recalled. “I went from a total nobody, basically, to Dolph Lundgren: movie star.”

Following his Rocky success, Lundgren’s film career continued to grow. In 1989 he starred in The Punisher. While poorly received by critics, it remains noteworthy due to being one of the first-ever Marvel movies. He later reunited with Stallone for The Expendables action franchise and the Rocky installment Creed II. But what does Lundgren think of his action-packed career?

While he may have had a decades-long career, some of Lungren’s most cherished memories are of Rocky and his time with Sylvester Stallone. Having become good friends, the pair admitted they still joke about the infamous boxing incident. “Ah, we laugh about it. We both got hit in the face in that picture,” Lundgren recalled. Still, the pair aren’t done with the fighting just yet.

Until the present day, Lundgren enjoys a successful career. Even at the age of 64, he remains busy and is currently filming the fourth installment of The Expendables alongside Jason Statham, Megan Fox, and of course, his pal Sylvester Stallone. If there’s anything that Lundgren can teach us, it’s that age isn’t a factor when it comes to keeping busy, so long as you maintain your passion.

And Stallone seems to agree. In recent years he’s been returning to tried-and-tested characters such as Rocky and Rambo. And he appeared to explain the reason for this in a 2010 indieLondon interview. There, Stallone spoke of how Hollywood has changed dramatically, and stars of his ilk were having to adjust to the new landscape.

He described how, in the 1980s, studios would just take an action star like he or Lundgren and, “surround us with guys.” He believed that, in those testosterone-fuelled actioners, “They didn’t need to build character.” However, it is a very different story these days. Stallone believes concept and character now matter more than a star name.

What’s more, Stallone also believes the Hollywood attitude toward expenditure is different, with studios being more risk averse. He told indieLondon, “There is a lot at stake today. It’s all scientific and every actor is weighed against what he’s going to bring in from territories. It’s like a maths project, it really is.”

So perhaps Stallone decided his best bet for continuing his career in modern Hollywood was returning to his bankable characters. For example, in 2020 a studio is less likely to greenlight an original Sylvester Stallone drama than a new Rocky movie. Even an original Stallone action movie, outside of Rambo or The Expendables, may have a hard time securing approval.

All that aside, Stallone’s fans were thrown a curveball on January 28, 2020, months after the release of Rambo: Last Blood. For you see, he posted a video on his Instagram account which showed him in a very different light. Indeed, he’d embraced his natural, older look publicly for the first time. And in doing so he revealed a dazzling gray head of hair and beard, showing that he’d actually been using hair dye for years.

Writing on the video post, Stallone had the following to say, “Sometimes I wake up I feel like doing nothing. Just relaxing. Just very true. If anyone says different, they’re lying – it’s human nature.” However, rather than giving in to this feeling, Stallone encouraged his fans to push themselves into action.

To this end, he concluded his message with, “Then you roll over, get a little mad at yourself, and realize to get anywhere you’ve got to make a deposit in the GOAL BANK. So, I’ll go back to my favorite phrase and do it!!” He added the hashtag, “#KeepPunching,” a reference to his most iconic character.

And Stallone reinforced the hashtag in the short video attached to the message by saying, “Keep punching, my friends” while holding his fist up in a Rocky-esque pose. His inspirational post, and the reveal of his natural hair color, were well received by fans in the comments section. Indeed, they posted messages of support.

One user posted, “Proud of you with the silver hair,” and another wrote, “Stay gray, my friend. Stay gray #staygold.” Another fan cracked an affectionate joke at Stallone’s expense by writing, “You look ‘greyt’ champ.” Another applauded his newfound openness with, “Stay true to the gray!! Looks good on ya.”

Later that week, Stallone went out to dinner in Beverly Hills with his wife Jennifer and daughters Sophia and Sistine. And he was pictured outside the Madeo Italian restaurant, still wearing the gray-haired look. He appeared happy and comfortable while posing for pictures with his daughters, both of whom are models and Instagram influencers. Over their 24 years of marriage, Stallone and Jennifer have created what seems to be a very happy family. What’s their secret?

Stallone himself provided an answer in 2010 when speaking to The Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Everything in the house is female,” he explained. “The toys, the housekeeper, all the dogs. The one dog I have that’s male is neutered. I’m next… But I’ve never had more fun.”

Regarding the secret to his marriage, Stallone added, “It took me 19 years to realize she’s always right. I realized that women have a knack, at least Jennifer, for making incredibly erudite, wise, smart decisions. I always leap without looking. She always looks and never leaps. She’s incredibly safe. So now finally, I say, ‘Honey, you make all the decisions. Done, done, done. I trust you.’”

The A-lister had said a similar thing a few years prior in an interview with Parade magazine. When asked what keeps him on track through tough times, Stallone answered, “I learned the hard way, it took me 30 years to figure out: happy wife, happy life. So it’s give up and give in when you have a little disagreement.”

“When you are going to argue, make sure it’s a big deal,” Stallone continued. “Don’t take a stand on which TV show you want to watch. Just go to another room. I have brilliantly learned for the first time how to have a great, fantastic wife. I can now write, I can now think, and I feel that I have something important to prove.”

Flavin herself was asked about the secret of her successful marriage in 2007. And she, too, gave a good answer. It was because both of them are financially independent, she said. She told Haute Living magazine that since her and Stallone both made plenty of money, Flavin didn’t strictly “need” him.

“I think that is why we have lasted so long,” the actress-turned-businesswoman explained. “Because of my success, because I feel better about myself, I am not trying to go out and get an acting job at 40 and feeling like, ‘Oh, God, my career is over!’ My career is just beginning. And what keeps it going is that I don’t need Sly. I don’t need him financially, and I don’t need him to get me a job.”

Daughter Sistine has been finding her dad’s influence helpful, though. “I have followers because of my dad,” she told Teen Vogue in 2015. “I get asked about his movies once a week. They want to know how he stays in shape and if he writes the screenplays.” She added that Rocky was her favorite Stallone movie and that her father had taught her “how to throw a punch.”

Sistine admitted that she probably wouldn’t go into acting, as she was “horrible” at it, but wanted to be a model like her mother. Of Flavin, the teenager added, “She’s like my wingman. She’s taught me my good side, my bad side, how to walk for the runway, and how to become someone else in a certain outfit.”

All three Stallone daughters then did an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2017. That was the same year they’d served as on-stage attendants at the Golden Globe Awards, all of them sharing the title of “Miss Golden Globe.” They gushed about the experience to the magazine, sharing how exciting it had been to meet so many celebrities.

The Stallone girls’ mother was also there for the interview. At the time, Sophia Rose was 20, Sistine 18 and Scarlet just 14. Offering an inside look into her parenting, Flavin told the interviewer, “They’re all totally different. But I expect them all to work hard and do well with whatever they’re good at.”

Their daughters are growing older and branching out, but Stallone and Flavin seem every bit as in love as ever. She often posts pictures of herself and Stallone on Instagram, showing them having date nights and the like. And she captions them with cute messages such as: “My love forever.”

For Valentine’s Day 2019, she posted a photograph and the message, “Our first photo taken together 30 years ago! July 1988! LOVE LASTS!”