Dolph Lundgren

Actor & Kyokushin Warrior

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by Silvio Morelli, Blitz (Australasian Martial Arts Magazine), Vol. 6 No. 5, Oct./Nov. 1992 (Australia)DOLPH LUNDGREN - THE MAN BEHIND THE MOVIES
In this exclusive interview, Dolph agreed to take us behind the scenes. We took a look at his beginnings in the Martial Arts, and his progression into starring in action adventure movies. He speaks about his views on the arts and where they are heading…
Silvio Morelli: Could you give us a little bit of background on yourself. When and where did you start your martial arts training?
Dolph Lundgren: I started my martial arts training in Stockholm, Sweden, when I was about fifteen. I took up judo first, for about six months, but didn't like that. I then took up Goju Karate, which only lasted six months again. I then took up Kyokushin Kai, which I was carefully guided through by Brian Fitkin.
For a small period of time, Tae Kwon Do was also part of my training schedule, when I went to the United States on a scholarship. Returning to Sweden in 1977, I took up from where I left off with Kyokushin.

S.M. Could you tell us a little about your competition days?
D.L. I started point fighting when I was about eighteen, with W.U.K.O. rules, then went on to Japan and started knock down karate when I was about twenty years. I didn't do too well in W.U.K.O. as I was constantly nervous. I kept on getting disqualified for excessive contact. Competitively I was not successful at point fighting. I soon realised that I was more of a contact fighter, and in 1979 I went to Japan to compete. Soon after arriving I learnt that one must be a brown belt to enter such competitions, and I was only a green belt. So I entered by changing the colour of my belt, from green to brown! I fought the champion, losing the decision against him, although I was satisfied with my efforts.
S.M. What titles did you win in that time?
D.L. The two major titles I obtained were the British Open in 1981, which was then the official European Knock Down Championships. Whilst I was living here in Australia, I won the Australian Open '82, with various other National titles following these two.
S.M. Who was your toughest opponent?
D.L. In 1978, I fought Nakamura, who was the world champion, I was only a green belt with no experience and he was twenty kilograms heavier than me. That fight went to four extensions
Another difficult fight was against Jeff Whybrow, who was the British champion. Jeff then went down to light heavyweight, and I was still in the heavyweight division, so I did not have to fight him anymore after 1980.
S.M. What brought you to Australia?
D.L. I was offered a scholarship from my school in Sweden, The Royal Institute of Technology, studying chemical engineering for one year at Sydney University in 1982.
S.M. Who did you train with here?
D.L. I started a club at Sydney University, which still exists today. My training was spent with John Taylor and Nick Cujic.
S.M. How would you rate Australian Kyokushin on a world standard?
D.L. This is a difficult question to answer, because I have not had the exposure to the Australian Kyokushin circuit for ten years, although one of my toughest competitions would have been here in Melbourne, when I fought for the Australian Open in '82. I was the odd one out, being from Europe, people didn't like me too much. . . That day there had been some fierce fighting between the competitors, so "everyone was wanting a piece of me". This particular event, I would have to say was one of my toughest.
S.M. How did you come about getting involved in the film industry?
D.L. I started here in Australia where I was modelling, and appearing in television commercials, to make some money "on the side". Deciding to give up competition in 1983, I went to New York where I was about to start school in Boston, I got involved in an acting workshop. Warren Robinson (who is now a famous teacher) who was involved with the workshop, suggested that I should base a career in acting. He explained that with my looks and my certain sensitivity, he thought that I could be very successful.

S.M. What were the events' that led you lo land the co-star role in Rocky IV?
D.L. Once making the decision for a career change, there was no time for professional drama training.
I went up for a big "Cattle Call" (an audition where thousands of actors appear at, hoping to be remembered), I was turned down for the part only being told that I was too tall, the script only requiring someone six foot three, and I was six five.
I decided not to give this up because this role offered many things that really appealed to me. It as a "fighting" movie, it was a "Rocky" movie, everything that I wanted to be a part of. I decided to send a picture of myself to Stallone through a friend of mine who knew him, (as the old myth stales, it is not what you know, it is who you know) then I received a phone call from "Rocky" soon after, asking me to audition again. Six months later. . . we were asked to appear for a third audition. There was myself and two, big Russian guys to do a screen test in Los Angeles. Their acting was really poor, and their English was not fluent. So my determination was finally rewarded. I had the co-star role.
S.M. What was it like working with Stallone?
D.L. It was very interesting at that point. Stallone was at the high point of his career, and I was just "starting out". Here was a guy that had done everything and knew everything, giving me a lot of "pointers" and support at the time. He was really great. . . A pleasure to work with him. . .
S.M. How did you come to meet Van Damme?
D.L. I was discussing this particular project (Unisol) with the producers, not knowing that he was a part of the same project, this was about two years before production started. Then there was a different director, different script and different co-stars, but at some point of the discussion he (Van Damme) was suggested and everyone agreed. Our meeting was at the producers office, Carolco, in Los Angeles.
S.M. What is your personal opinion of Unisol?
D.L.I kind of like it. . . I like the movie as a film. What we set out to accomplish has been achieved. I think we hit the mark. . . I liked my performance, for the first time I did something unpredictable. The character was "wild and crazy". I took some chances, and I was pleased with my performance.
S.M. There are some really exciting and quite spectacular scenes in Unisol. Any particular one sticks in your mind as difficult to shoot?
D.L Physically and logistically speaking, the hardest one was the Hoover dam, due to the communication problems between cast and crew. . . with coming down the dam, and helicopters flying around, and the very tight security measures, it was pretty tough pace. I was quite amazed that we received permission to film due to the heavy security around the dam.
For me as actor, my favourite was the opening scene in Vietnam and the scene in the supermarket which proved to be demanding on my character. I needed to work on my character's development, which I really enjoyed.
S.M. Van Damme and yourself look in really great shape. What sort of pre-shoot training were you into for this movie?
D.L. Well, obviously knowing that Van Damme was "the other guy" in the movie, I had to train extra hard. I felt that my training for the movie was very important. I wanted to get a balance between size and athletic ability. I decided that more cardiovascular and martial arts training would be needed, because I wanted to look more cut than I had ever before. I wanted the character to move in a more "lethal" way, so when he wasn't in a robotic state, he would move more like a special forces guy. So the training consisted of a five day week, split routine on the weights every morning. In the afternoons I would either train in martial arts or run. I kept that up for a couple of months before the movie. Once shooting began, my cardiovascular training decreased, and I only continued with weights. As an actor you only have so much time, and working on the set you are consistently "burning calories" anyway.
I do want to say that, as much as I love the martial arts, when appearing in leading action and adventure movies, I think it is important not to exhibit too much technique, and to use a more "rough and tumble" street fighting type approach. This I think makes a character more of a regular type of person.

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