Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone Say Action Flicks Took a Major Toll on Their Bodies

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are indisputably two of the biggest action movie stars in film history. Schwarzenegger became a household name thanks to The Terminator, while Stallone ran up stairs into the hearts of millions in the Rocky series. 

Now both in their 70s, Schwarzenegger and Stallone are still working in Hollywood, though their roles are nowhere near as physically demanding as they once were. In the new special TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons, the two actors look back on their illustrious careers together, which at times included a rivalry as the two biggest action stars in the world. During the interview, the two men bonded over the injuries they sustained throughout their careers. 

Back in 2012, by coincidence, the two stars ended up sharing a hospital room. A now-iconic photo showed the two stars lying on gurneys next to each other in a sterile room. "That was by accident," Stallone said of the moment in the special. They both went on to detail the many surgeries they've had over the years. 

"Three neck fusions, shoulders, knees," Stallone said. 

"Yeah, I had [an] endless amount of heart surgeries, back surgery," Schwarzenegger chimed in. "Shoulder surgeries—this shoulder, this shoulder. The knees, both knees. Hip replacement and all that kind of stuff." 

When asked if they question why they put their bodies through so much, Stallone didn't hesitate with his answer. 

"I do," Stallone stated plainly as he looked over at Schwarzenegger. "As Tony Robbins [said], 'The pleasure is not worth the pain." 

"I liked doing some of it, but there was a point when I should've slowed it down and used a pro [stunt man]," Stallone added. 

"Rocky's things really wiped me out from snapping my head all the time," he said. While filming Rocky IV, he asked Dolph Lundgren to hit him hard, which landed him in the hospital for several weeks with a serious neck injury. "He almost killed me," he stated plainly. "That was a freakish accident. It was freakish. I did ask for it, but I didn't think he'd hit so hard." 

"It was absolutely not worth it in the sense that you don't know when to quit," he concluded. "I should've stopped right before the first Expendables. That's what did me in."

With their legacies secured and their bodies seemingly finally stabilized, Stallone and Schwarzenegger can enjoy the fruits of their labor while continuing to work on screen. 

TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons premieres April 23 at 8 p.m. on Fox and streams the next day on Hulu.