The Stallone-Schwarzenegger rivalry: how it started, in Stallone’s own words
Sylvester Stallone is spelling out what lit the fuse on his once-cutthroat rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger—and how the competition ended up turbocharging both their careers.
Asked point-blank which of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s roles he wishes he’d snagged, Sylvester Stallone didn’t hesitate: “All of his.” In a new chat with Entertainment Tonight, Stallone said the two sized each other up from their very first meeting and instantly knew what they were in for.
“First time I laid eyes on Arnold, and first time he laid eyes on me, we knew we were gonna be frenemies forever.”
Stallone even joked that Schwarzenegger was born to play the killing machine in The Terminator while he, with his famously crooked snarl, looked like someone who had “fell off the experimental table.” It ’s the kind of self-deprecating jab that underlines how much of their rivalry was performance—and how real it felt in the moment.
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, the competition ran hot across everything that mattered in action- movie land: opening weekends, biceps, body counts, one-liners—and yes, paychecks. Stallone said they clashed often but also pushed each other, a rare case where he saw another actor as true, direct competition.
Paychecks and pranks
Schwarzenegger has his own receipts. On the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast earlier this year, he said he took the icy villain turn in Batman & Robin as Mr. Freeze—reportedly for about $30 million—partly to finally out-earn Stallone, even though playing the bad guy wasn’t exactly calling his name.
“I didn’t want to play the villain. They said, ‘$25 million is petty cash, what’s the matter with you guys?’”
The rivalry also spawned one of Hollywood ’s great gotchas: Schwarzenegger has long said he feigned interest in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, prompting Stallone to swoop in for the lead. Stallone later labeled the family comedy a career low point.
Time cooled things off. The former sparring partners wound up on the same side, sharing the screen in The Expendables films and reuniting as co-leads in Escape Plan—proof that one of Hollywood’s fiercest feuds eventually morphed into a working bromance.