10 Actors Who Refused To Use Stunt Doubles For Epic Fight Scenes
1. Rocky IV - Sylvester Stallone Vs. Dolph Lundgren
Sylvester ‘Sly’ Stallone has been acting since 1969, first appearing as an extra on Downhill Racer. However, it was whilst the first Rocky flick was being made in 1976 that he began to develop a reputation for being tough. Stallone was involved in all the fight scenes in the Rocky movies, and while well-choreographed, sometimes hits were mistakenly taken due to fatigue and human error.
The fight between Apollo Creed and Rocky in the first feature took 35 hours of rehearsals to get just right. Both Stallone and Carl Weathers still suffered bruised ribs, though, and Weathers damaged his nose. Sly even flattened a knuckle from punching carcasses of raw meat repeatedly.
Dolph Lundgren, meanwhile, was acting in his first major role as Ivan Drago in 1985’s Rocky IV. Lundgren engaged in body building exercises and boxing six days a week for five months prior to the movie being made, in order to look the part.
During filming for Rocky IV, the fight between Rocky and Drago was choreographed but the actors would actually end up hitting each other when the cameras were rolling. Both made sure not to hit each other's faces too hard, but body shots were full tilt.
One of Lundgren’s body shots to Stallone was so hard, it pushed his diaphragm into his heart and landed the ‘Italian Stallion’ in intensive care for five days.