Sylvester Stallone Explained Why He Believes He And Arnold Schwarzenegger Used To Really Hate Each Other

    Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger had a longstanding feud early in their careers as action stars.

    Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger may be good friends now — but that wasn't always the case.

    Arnold and Sylvester grab each other's hands and smile

    In fact, Sylvester admits that the duo actually really hated each other amid their box office rivalry in the 1980s and 1990s.

    A closeup of  Sylvester

    "We couldn’t stand to be in the same galaxy together for a while. We truly, truly loathed each other," Sylvester said on a recent episode of The Jonathan Ross Show.

    A closeup of Arnold and Sylvester in the 90s

    So, while Sylvester was starring in flicks like Cobra and Tango & Cash and Arnold was making headlines for Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator, the pair let their competitive instincts get the best of them.

    A closeup of Arnold and Sylvester in the 90s

    "This may sound a little vain, but I think we were pioneering a kind of genre at that time, and it hasn’t been seen since really," Sylvester explained to Forbes.

    A closeup of Sylvester

    He continued, "So, the competition, because it’s his nature, he is very competitive, and so am I…and I just thought it actually helped, but off-screen, we were still competitive, and that was not a healthy thing at all."

    Sylvester jokingly punches Arnold under the chin

    Since then, he says he's "become really good friends" with Arnold, and they've even shared the screen in films like The Expendables and Escape Plan.

    Arnold gives a thumbs up next to Sylvester

    Although it was a rocky road to their friendship, it sounds like these two realized it was more effective to team up than be bitter rivals!