Page 3 Profile: Sylvester Stallone, Movie Action Man

Sylvester Stallone (Getty)

Trouble in Hollywood?

You bet. And it’s of the muscle-bound, all-star cast variety.

Great. What’s the lowdown?

Well, Sly isn’t too happy with old pal Bruce Willis for pulling out of the third instalment in The Expendables film franchise. With Harrison Ford confirmed as Willis’s replacement, the Rocky star tweeted: “‘WILLIS OUT... HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! After that left hook, he came in with the right: “GREEDY AND LAZY... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE.”

Harrison, Willis, Stallone; this is a stellar line-up…

And that’s not the half of it. It turns out Stallone originally offered Willis’s role to Arnold Schwarzenegger before remembering his old friend, Bruce. And it looks like The Expendables 3 will star every Tinsel Town muscleman worth his dumb-bells: Wesley Snipes, Nicholas Cage, Jason Statham, Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson are all set to feature.

Didn’t Sly and Brucey use to flip burgers together?

Not quite. Along with Arnie and Demi Moore, the pair were original backers of the Planet Hollywood chain. It’s been a rough road though: the movie-themed restaurants have gone bankrupt twice, and there are now only eight worldwide.

But come on, the big question: who’d win in a fight?

Tough one. Willis has 10 years on Sly, but the old guy’s still stacked. He also insists on doing a lot of his own stunts, and broke his neck while filming The Expendables. Rehearsing for Rocky IV, he told co-star Dolph Lundgren: “Punch me as hard as you can in the chest” – and soon after was rushed to hospital.

Sounds kinda dumb…

Well, as Rocky Balboa said: “[Life] ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward…”

So your money’s on Willis?

You bet.