Dolph Lundgren was an icon for me growing up, and not just for killing Apollo in Rocky IV. I was into the live-action He-Man and even his Punisher and Showdown in Little Tokyo. It was especially Universal Soldier though, one of my favorite action movies and favorite villains. We have been Dolph-less for too long, but he's been working steadily in the DVD market. His latest film, The Final Inquiry, is a biblical story. Lundgren plays Brixos, the muscle in a duo of investigators looking into the death of Jesus Christ, and ultimately concluding about his resurrection.
We know you're tough, but will people be surprised that you're biblical too?
[Laughing] “Well, I am, especially in this picture. I liked the story. I loved the story when I read it. I love history and this is my first historical picture. My character is kind of an interesting guy, kind of a barbarian who doesn't know anything about Christianity at all but at the end, I think both him and his master, the Roman Tribune, they're both kind of impressed and transformed by it. Actually, my character dies a Christ-like death when he tries to protect his master.”
Can you talk about that hair and beard?
“I know. Well, the first time I showed up in Italy to meet the producers and the director, actually they showed me these drawings of the character with his long hair and beard. I was like, ‘Whoa, that's interesting.’ I never really had that before. It transforms the character and the actor, in this case myself, from the outside in. It works. You become a different person once you put something like that on.”
How did it feel to swing that big axe?
“Well, I've had a big sword before in Masters of the Universe. It was a workout.”
Was it the real deal? How heavy was it?
“It was pretty heavy. They had different versions of it. They had everything from a very light one, rubber when you carry it, but you have one that you fight with. That's kind of not that sharp because if you accidentally hit somebody. Then we had the real one which was really heavy, which I used. There's a scene where I knock down a door with it. That one was quite heavy.”
You've touched on spirituality in other roles. What is your spiritual philosophy?
“Well, when I was a kid, I was brought up in a Lutheran religion in Sweden. I went to Sunday school and we studied religion in school in those days. This was a while back. All kids had to do it. Now, I became more interested in the historical aspect of it and I love history, I love churches, I love antiques. I love to imagine what it was like in those days and what religion meant to people. So right now, I do go to church occasionally. I don't do it every day, every week. I think I've become a more spiritual person with age.”
Has the popularity of DVDs provided career opportunities that film wasn't anymore?
“Yes and no. I think there's a phenomenon where studio pictures become very, very big and very, very expensive. The more money people spend, the less risks they are willing to take. That's why there are a lot of sequels now. There are a lot of remakes - I mean a tremendous amount of sequels and remakes. A lot of cartoon movies where you know you can get families in there and the kids, and that's great. It's a business.
I think one of the things about DVD is you can approach it two ways. You can do it as a gig to make some money and nobody cares, really. There's not as much effort that goes into that as a theatrical picture. Or you can take it, which I try to do when I direct now or act, is as an opportunity. If you can just create something that is commercial enough to sell but if you want to do something special with it, then you can do it. You have a lot of latitude which is great for a filmmaker. So that's the way I look at it. For me, it's been a really positive thing.”
Can you believe they're remaking The Punisher and talking about He-Man now?
“You've got it. That's what I heard too. I'm sure they'll do it because I think anything that has a built in audience is going to get an audience and get more people in the seats. That's kind of what the trend is right now. And I think the business goes through cyclic changes, but some things are probably permanent. Like, for instance, it's more expensive to make movies, they want to get more people in there but I think there are a lot more off-beat independent type movies now that are bringing in bigger audiences and hopefully, I hope anyway, that that will be a trend that will bring some more interesting perhaps and unpredictable stories to the screen.”
Do you think about what you might do with a bigger budget?
“I think that anything I'm in for a while at least will have some kind of action or action/adventure element to it. That has to be part of it. If the story's good and the characters are interesting and the relationships are good, then why not? If you can do that on the theatrical level, but the movies are still about people. Like for instance the first Bourne Identity picture was very interesting I thought, good characters and good direction. It was fresh. Something like that would be cool to make.”
Do you think Ivan Drago could take the new action heroes like Vin Diesel and The Rock?
[Laughing] “Yeah, I think he'd have a pretty good chance. I think so. I think both Vin Diesel and The Rock are built guys and they're physical, but I think Ivan Drago was also pretty strong. He was a good fighter. Good hands, you know? Good hand speed. He has a pretty good punch to him.”
All these years later, do you feel bad for killing Apollo?
“Yeah, I know, I have that question. Actually, when the film first came out, the question came from that place. People were upset, especially in certain areas. ‘What'd you kill Apollo for, man?’ I was like, ‘It's a movie, sorry. He's still alive. Don't worry.’ I thought it was a great device by Stallone to just make people want to see the second fight. It was clever.”
