Turning one of the most heated rivalries of a generation into a wholesome bromance is no easy feat, but it’s one Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have made to look very easy over the years.
At one point, the two titans of action cinema absolutely hated each other’s guts, to the extent they didn’t even want to be in the same room together, but age appears to have mellowed them both equally. Thankfully, these days there’s no danger of them coming to blows if they’re standing side-by-side, but Stallone still makes it sound as though there’s always going to be simmering under the surface.
In an interview with WSJ magazine, the Rocky and Rambo legend once again reflected on mending fences with the Austrian Oak, only to offer some sinister undertones that made him sound almost Machiavellian in nature.
“I try to find laughs when they’re not in abundance. Sometimes it gets a little irritating and people tell me, shut up. It’s like with me and Arnold. We have this caustic sense of humor, and we go at each other nonstop. I almost covet a good enemy. He really brings out the best of you. Back in the day, we couldn’t breathe the same air. But that made us work harder. And then we eventually realized we’re pretty much cut from the same cloth – even though his cloth is more like itchy wool. I’m like silk.”
Sure, Stallone and Schwarzenegger are BFFs these days, but Sly almost makes it sound as if it’s a means to an end that pushes him to up his game. Hopefully that’s not the case, because Arnold would surely be devastated.