There was a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were staunch rivals in action movies.

“We were kind of attacking each other and doing nasty things and saying nasty things about each other and all these stupid things,” said Arnold. The seven-time Mr. Olympia recalled that their reconciliation stemmed from an unexpected business venture.

"We hated each other," the actor-politician, 77, told Andy Cohen on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy. But despite being rivals, their friendship eventually bloomed, all thanks to a restaurant.

“All of a sudden, I started working with Robert Earl and Keith Parish to create the Planet Hollywood franchise, those restaurants.The next thing I know is I get a phone call from my lawyer, who was also Sly’s lawyer, he said, ‘Arnold, is there any kind of room for Sly in Planet Hollywood?” Arnold recalled.

Upon reflection, Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled thinking his lawyer had given him a good idea, one that could bring them together.

The Planet Hollywood burst onto the New York City scene back in 1991, powered by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallon, and other Hollywood heavyweights.

“Sure enough, we made it work,” said the ‘Arnie’ collaborating with Stallone. “And Bruce Willis became part of Planet Hollywood, Whoopi Goldberg became part of Planet Hollywood, Chuck Norris… It really was kind of an international cast.”

They became good friends after the Planet Hollywood fiasco, but years later, Stallone admitted that Arnold was a much bigger star than him.

Sylvester Stallone Gives the Reality Check on Arnold Schwarzenegger

In one of Netflix’s summer documentaries, 'Arnold' Stallone didn’t hesitate to admit that Schwarzenegger was the ultimate action hero, “The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet. He was superior. He just had all the answers. He had the body. He had the strength. That was his character,” said Stallone.

He further added, “I had to get my a** kicked constantly, whereas Arnold, he never got hurt much. And I’m going, ‘Arnold, you could go out and fight a dragon and you’d come back with a Band-Aid.”

Stallone admitted to Forbes last November that the two actors “really disliked each other immensely” for over two decades as their action films competed at the box office.

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu