Premiering on VOD and all leading digital platforms October 6th is the new documentary ‘Dolph: Unbreakable‘, which focuses on the life and career of iconic actor Dolph Lundgren (‘Rocky IV‘, ‘Masters of the Universe‘, ‘The Punisher‘, and ‘The Expendables‘ franchise).
Directed by Andrew Holmes, the documentary contains intimate interviews with Dolph Lundgren, as well as his ‘Expendables’ co-stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dolph Lundgren about ‘Dolph: Unbreakable’, why he wanted to make the documentary, sitting down for interviews with director Andrew Holmes, having his famous friends also participate in the documentary, his favorite day on the ‘Expendables’ movies, the longevity of the characters he has originated, living the “Viking Life”, and an update on his current health.
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Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about why now was the right time for you to make this documentary and tell the world your life’s story?
Dolph Lundgren: Well, at a certain age, you start looking back at your life. It’s a natural occurrence, I guess. These two offers came out of nowhere. One was a documentary and the other one an autobiography, so I ended up doing both. I started with the documentary, and about a year into it, I had this cancer diagnosis, so we had to refashion the documentary and make it more about that, which took a lot of work and re-editing and rethinking of the concept. But, I think on the whole, it’s a way for me to look back at my life. I didn’t really do it for myself, but it turned out to be therapeutic. I think I did it to share things with my fans, with the audience who have supported me all these years, and if possible, maybe to give them some inspiration as well.
MF: Can you talk about working with director Andrew Holmes and what it was like for you personally to sit down with him and his cameras to take a look back at your life and career?
DL: Well, it’s different from selling a movie. It was a bit daunting in the beginning when they ask about your life, all the details of it, because I was used to speaking about it in general terms. When you do a movie interview, they’ll ask something like, “What are you working on?” Or they’ll ask about Sweden or martial arts. But this was more in detail and its therapeutic. You reconsider certain decisions you make or re-examine why you did them, and how they all fit into your life story. So, I was a little nervous about it, but I think fairly shortly I felt that it was a good thing for me.
MF: Your friends and colleagues Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme all sat down for interviews for this documentary. What does it mean to you personally to know that they participated and can you talk a little about your long friendship with them?
DL: It means a lot that they contributed, and their insight and their support has been great. We’re friends. Stallone and I are friends for 40 years. We’ve done six movies together. We have similar upbringings. We share a lot, like the physicality. We worked out together, and we beat each other up back in the day. We both have daughters. He has got three, I got two. We’re both doing books. We have books out now. He has one as well. Arnold, I’m friends with as well. I met him before I got in the movie business, actually through my girlfriend at the time, Grace Jones. So I’ve known him even longer and he has always been supportive of me. I always looked up to him as well, being very successful and very smart. He has a charity that I support called After-School. So, it means a lot to me. Jean-Claude Van Damme is in it too, and he’s also somebody I did four movies with.
MF: In the documentary, you mention that one of your favorite days shooting the ‘Expendables’ movies was on ‘Expendables 2‘ when you were in a scene with Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Van Damme, as well as Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Jason Statham, and others. Can you talk about why that moment means so much to you and is ‘Expendables 2’ your favorite film in the franchise?
DL: Yeah, I think the original or ‘2.’ I mean, I’m fond of the original because I have this interesting character arc where I played a bad guy who was supposed to get killed. But Sly changed his mind and I got new pages one morning, and I was like, “Okay, I’m alive now. All right, that’s interesting.” Then because it was the first time I’d worked with him after ‘Rocky IV’ and it was 25 years later, it means a lot. But I think ‘2’ was maybe the more entertaining picture, and it had more action guys in that one. There’s one scene towards the end where we were actually at an airfield somewhere and it was raining, and we’re all going to get ready to shoot in the morning and we’re in this little tent. I had a friend of mine with me, actually it was my lawyer from Sweden was there, and I was early and Randy Couture was there. Then Sly shows up and Arnold comes in and starts putting on gear, and then Jason Statham and Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and then Chuck Norris walks in. So it’s like, “Wait a second, is this really happening?” I could see my friend, this Swedish lawyer was looking around like, “Who do I speak to? What do I do here?” It was kind of surreal, and I doubt that that moment will happen again. I mean, with those type of icons, usually everybody stars in their own movie and not with ten other guys like that, but it was fantastic to be part of it, really.
MF: What is it like as an actor to see so many of the characters you originated withstand the test of time? For example, Ivan Drago returned in ‘Creed II’, there was a new ‘Masters of the Universe‘ this summer that you participated in, and the Punisher appeared in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘. Are you surprised by the longevity that these characters have had and which one is your favorite?
DL: Well, it makes me feel old. It makes me feel like I did something. I was part of a wonderful time of action movies, which came right after bodybuilding started and Arnold, Sly, Van Damme, myself, and Steven Seagal, all these guys who had the real skills. You needed the real skills back in those days. It reminds me of that, that there was no CGI, and there were no muscle suits. If you wanted to have a six-pack, you had to get it the old-fashioned way by doing sit-ups. So yeah, it brings back great memories. I mean, my favorite character? I think that it was wonderful to come back in ‘Creed II‘ and do that character again and to do a father-son relationship because me and my dad had a very tough relationship. I could play him, which it was interesting because my older brother said when he saw the movie, “Dolph reminds me of my dad.” So, I kind of took my dad’s mannerisms and put him into Ivan Drago, which was cathartic for me, but also kind of fun as well.
MF: In the film, you talk about the “Viking Life”. What did you mean by that and as an actor, do you feel like you have lived the “Viking Life”?
DL: Well, the Vikings were adventurous, right? They were up in snowy Scandinavia, and then as soon as the ice broke in the spring, they took their ships and went out on an adventure. They didn’t really go out to conquer France or Russia or anything. They just went out to have some fun and maybe bring back some gold, and perhaps a few women, or try to find glory in a big battle somewhere. Obviously, if a Viking was killed in battle, it wasn’t a bad thing. They came to Valhalla, where all the beautiful women are, and there was beer you could drink forever. So they had this carefree kind of attitude, and I think I’ve had some of that in the way I’ve tried to get out of Sweden, trying to use whatever skills I had, whether it was engineering or martial arts, or acting later, and to find myself and find who I am. Who is this guy? A journey of self-discovery, I think. The Vikings had a little bit of that. I think they were tough, of course, brutal, but everybody was brutal a thousand years ago. I think some of the characters I play in the movies are Viking-like, I guess. They’re stoic, they’re tough, and they don’t complain, which is kind of a part of me as well.
MF: Finally, because you mentioned it and it’s such a big part of the documentary, how’s your health? How are you feeling these days?
DL: I’m doing really well. I’m working out. I feel healthy. I’ve been NED, which is “no evidence of disease” for three years. Obviously, I know that I do these scans every four months or so, and I’m aware of the fact that one day maybe I’ll have to do some other treatments or something, and that’s no big deal. I mean, it is what it is, but physically I feel really well. I’m kind of back to where I was prior to this all starting, but I’m a little wiser now and I don’t push myself physically as much as I used to, which may have been part of what happened as well.
What is the story of ‘Dolph: Unbreakable’?
Dolph Lundgren built a career playing indestructible. Documentary feature ‘Dolph: Unbreakable’ is about what indestructible cost him — a hidden childhood, chronic injury, and a brutal cancer diagnosis he fought in private while the world only ever saw the action hero.
Who is interviewed in ‘Dolph: Unbreakable’?
- Dolph Lundgren as Himself
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Himself
- Sylvester Stallone as Himself
- Jean-Claude Van Damme as Himself
