Sylvester Stallone Says His 20-Year Rivalry With Arnold Schwarzenegger Only Ended When He Ran for Governor and Wasn’t ‘Doing Movies Anymore’

Sylvester Stallone is reminiscing about his now-infamous rivalry with fellow action star Arnold Schwarzenegger through the 1980s and 1990s — and why they only laid down the hatchet when the latter ran for governor of California.

In a recent interview on “The Rest Is Entertainment” podcast, the “Rocky” actor answered whether he felt the competition between the two actors shaped his career and led him to take risks.

“Yeah, it did,” said Stallone. “You know, we were very confrontational.” He continued: “Because you have two people arriving at the beginning of a different genre and we both want to be in charge of that genre. I never wanted to be an action guy, but I did ‘First Blood’ and I said, ‘This is interesting because action films, if done right, are modern mythology. It’s like what they used to do, you know, ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ and Hercules and Achilles.’”

“So, I see this guy, and I could tell right away he’s going to be a problem,” Stallone said, referring to Schwarzenegger. “You know, we were at the Golden Globe Awards, and he’s sitting there and he’s eyeballing me, and — we call that stink eye — I said, ‘Okay, all right. I got it, pal.’ And then he wins.”

The two continued to vie for the title of top action star, with both actors liking “to challenge” one another, said Stallone. “We’re both physical, and now, who’s going to be the vanguard, the leader in that genre? So I do ‘Rambo,’ he does ‘Commando,’ and it went back and forth, back and forth, on and off screen. It was very contentious, trust me. Which I enjoyed.” The two later partnered on the movie-themed chain restaurant Planet Hollywood in 1991, but Stallone noted that they wouldn’t even get on stage together to give a speech.

Their rivalry “wasn’t put to bed until 20 years later,” said Stallone, when Schwarzenegger decided to run for governor. “We went to the same cigar place. He was there. I said, ‘Enough of this. We’re not in competition anymore.’ He’s not doing movies anymore. All right. Thank you very much for waking me up and lighting a fire under me. And he felt the same way.”

To this day, they remain friendly — “We’re always going to be competitive… That’s the nature of the beast, and I enjoy it. I really do. But we’re not as financially competitive anymore,” Stallone concluded.