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Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone open up about decades of competition in Hollywood

The two actors also discussed their appearance and how they competed for the best physique in the business.


Daniel Neira
Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
APRIL 23, 2024 2:27 PM EDT

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone found success in Hollywood with iconic roles in popular films, and with similarities in their careers and action-packed productions, the pair also found themselves competing against each other while at the top of their fame.

During their latest joint interview with TMZ, the pair discussed their rivalry and shared some insight about their careers, where they compared how deep their competition went, including machine guns and even body fat.

Arnold Schwarzenegger© GettyImages

“We ended up kind of like, ‘Well, you killed 28 people in the movie; I killed 32,’” Arnold said during the interview, with Sylvester sharing his thoughts at the time; “I got to top that.” The two actors also discussed their appearance and how they competed for the best physique in the business.

Sylvester Stallone in the seat of the magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni© GettyImages

“It was now the body count and then it was kind of, like, ‘Well, what was your body fat? ‘I was down to seven percent,’ Sly said. And then I said, ‘I was down to 10 percent,’” Arnold added, “So it became a competition with the body.”

LA Premiere Of Paramount Pictures' "Terminator Genisys"© GettyImages

“And then he started using machine guns that were kind of, like, huge machine guns. I was running after him, he was not running after me,” the ‘Terminator’ star admitted. “So I said, when we did ‘Predator’ … ‘I’ve got to have a bugger machine gun than Sly used in “Rambo.” So this is how it went.“

The pair went on to become friends and their friendly competition continued as they became more successful. “I was running after him, he was not running after me,” Arnold said, praising Sylvester.