Rocky IVstar Dolph Lundgren reveals the on-set tension between him and co-star Carl Weathers. Having played Apollo Creed in the first threeRockyfilms, Weathers was no stranger to the hugely successful sports movie franchise when he returned for a fourth go-around.Rocky IVwould indeed prove to be Weathers’ lastRockyfranchiseappearance as Creed (outside of flashbacks), as the character famously died in the ring while fighting the Russian behemoth Ivan Drago, played by newcomer Lundgren.
But Lundgren didn’t only feel tension with Weathers as a result of their playing adversaries, he also felt it off-camera due to unfamiliarity, as he revealed exclusively to Screen Rant during a Fan Expo panel. Lundgren recalls being comfortable withRockyactor Sylvester Stallone after sparring with him for weeks:
Well, I didn’t know Carl [before Rocky IV]. I knew Stallone because we boxed and trained together for six months, and he was my boss. We were in the rig six days a week, so you push each other around, you’re sparring, and you get to know each other. But Carl, I didn’t know.
Lundgren talks about meeting Weathers shortly before they began shootingRocky IV’s pivotal Creed vs. Drago battle, discussing why Weathers may have had reason to doubt his new, untested co-star:
When I first met him, we were shooting the fight of Apollo versus Drago in Las Vegas, and Carl showed up two days before. I was there to rehearse it with him, and he didn’t know me. He just saw this big fricking blonde guy who looks dangerous. He heard this guy’s a karate champion, and he’s never acted before. I think Carl got a little bit like, “Am I really…? Should I really do this? Am I going to survive this fight?”
I was in character a lot around the ring, so I was always Drago. I was walking around like him. In the beginning, we didn’t talk much. There was a little bit of tension there, and then of course in the fight, I ended up beating him up pretty badly. I didn’t really get to know him that well.
Lundgren says he and Weathers, who passed away in 2024, became friendlier in later years:
But later at the premiere of the movie and then later, professionally, I met him many times… We did a couple of Comic-Cons together, and he turned out to be a really nice guy who was very friendly. But I think he was always a little bit sore about what happened in Rocky I through IV. I didn’t write the script! [Laughs]
What This Means For Lundgren And Weathers’ Rocky IV Legacies
Drago Vs. Creed Is One Of Cinema’s Great Shockers
Lundgren’sIvan Dragohas gone down in history as one of the best movie villains of all-time. The cold and intimidating Drago’s ultimately tragic battle with Apollo was not only a shocking development at the time of the film’s release, it proved to have massive ramifications for the wholeRockyfranchise. Firstly, it removed Weathers from the equation in subsequentRockyfilms. Secondly, it set the stage for Michael B. Jordan’s much-later arrival on the scene, playing Apollo’s boxer son Adonis Creed.
Creed 2saw Apollo’s son Adonis fighting Drago’s son Viktor
Rocky IVwriter/director/star Stallone has since expressed misgivings about killing offApollo Creed, but from a dramatic standpoint, it was arguably the right call. If Lundgren and Weathers experienced real tension in their off-camera relationship, it probably only helped their acting as they played their big scene, which begins with Creed taking Drago lightly, and ends with him being battered into his grave. Lundgren’s new story adds additional background color to what was already a classic movie scene.
Our Take On Lundgren’s Tense Experience With Weathers
Everything Turned Out All Right In The End
It’s perhaps understandable that Weathers would be skeptical of Lundgren going intoRocky IV, given the Drago actor’s lack of experience. Lundgren may indeed have been limited as an actor, but he had the perfect physicality for Drago, and his icy demeanor fit the almost robotic nature of the character.
Lundgren and Weathers’ initial coolness toward each other may have helped their epic fight scene work even better, so, ultimately, it was a plus. But it’s nevertheless good to hear that later on the ice melted between them and they became friendly. TheRocky IVco-stars are forever linked in movie history, and it’s heartwarming that they enjoyed something of a bond in the real world, thanks in part to their Comic-Con appearances.
Rocky IV
Cast
Rocky IV sees the return of Sylvester Stallone’s iconic heavyweight champion after his victory over Clubber Lang. When an exhibition match between Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed and Dolph Lundgren’s USSR boxing star Ivan Drago goes wrong, Rocky Balboa puts all his efforts into defeating the Soviet athlete to honor his friend’s legacy and exalt America’s patriotic spirit.
