Dolph Lundgren has revealed that there was "tension" between him and Carl Weathers on the set of 'Rocky IV'.
The 67-year-old actor played antagonist Ivan Drago in the 1985 movie and admits that he didn't strike up a bond with his late co-star as they shot a pivotal sequence where Drago kills Apollo Creed in the boxing ring.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Dolph said: "When I first met him, we were shooting the fight of Apollo versus Drago in Las Vegas, and Carl showed up two days before.
"I was there to rehearse it with him, and he didn't know me. He just saw this big fricking blonde guy who looks dangerous. He heard the guy's a karate champion, and he's never acted before. I think Carl got a little bit like, 'Am I really...? Should I really do this? Am I going to survive this fight?'
"I was in character a lot around the ring, so I was always Drago. I was walking around like him. In the beginning, we didn't talk much. There was a little bit of tension there, and then of course in the fight, I ended up beating him up pretty badly. I didn't really get to know him that well."
Dolph revealed that he later became friendlier with Weathers – who died at the age of 76 in February.
The 'Aquaman' star said: "But later at the premiere of the movie and then later, professionally, I met him many times... We did a couple of Comic-Cons together, and he turned out to be a really nice guy who was very friendly.
"But I think he was always a little bit sore about what happened in 'Rocky' I through IV. I didn't write the script."
Drago also takes on Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa in the movie's finale but the pair were a lot more familiar with each other as they had spent weeks sparring together.
He said: "I knew Stallone because we boxed and trained together for six months, and he was my boss. We were in the ring six days a week, so you push each other around, you're sparring, and you get to know each other. But Carl, I didn't know."
Meanwhile, Dolph previously revealed that the legendary actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood was one of his "biggest inspirations" for making some of his best work in the later years of his career.
Speaking to HeyUGuys in 2022, he explained: "I think one of my biggest inspirations is Clint Eastwood because he's the guy who made that transition from acting to directing and from action to drama. That's a tough transition to make. And he's still going on at 91! I don't know if I can last that long but if I can do a tenth of what he's done then I'll be very happy!"
