The infamous and loved character of Ivan Drago played by Dolph Lundgren is making a comeback in the new movie Creed II. Audiences will get to see Drago in a whole new light as not just a fighter, but also a father as he prepares his son to fight Adonis Creed. We sat down with Lundgren to talk about the legacy of Drago, his role in the new film and if he and the Italian Stallion will be back in the ring.
Dolph Lundgren talks Creed II and what to expect from Drago’s comeback
What were your initial thoughts when you found out that Drago was making a comeback?
Dolph Lundgren: Well, I didn’t think I was going to play him again. I was surprised when I heard about it from Stallone. I didn’t want to do it, I wasn’t sure if I should do it, if I should meddle with that iconic guy in those red shorts back in that midst of time somewhere. I decided when I saw the script, I thought, “Yeah, what a great script! Wow, this is a really great role, it’s amazing.” So a lot of the preparation was more emotional, but I did train for it because, you know Florian, I mean I met Florian. I knew he was going to be a big guy, but he was really big. So I thought I should get in shape so I can throw him around a little bit because I have to in the script, so most of the preparation was dramatic, but there was physical training too.
At the end of Rocky IV Ivan was defeated by the Italian Stallion, now Ivan’s son Viktor Drago is taking on Adonis Creed who is trained by Rocky Balboa. What can you tell us about Drago’s motivation for pushing a fight between his son and Rocky’s boxer?
Dolph Lundgren: The motivation for Drago is after he lost the fight like you mentioned, everything went downhill quickly. His wife left him. He probably got kicked out of his nice apartment in Moscow, he was sent off to the countryside somewhere and started drinking. Everything fell apart, and he somehow landed somewhere and got himself together, but he had his kid, and the kid’s mother leaves him very quickly, and his son grows up to be a fighter. I think Drago has felt betrayed by the Soviet Union, now Russia, and of course by America, well actually Rocky Balboa. It’s all his fault that any of this happened. But then the Russians have betrayed him, and he hasn’t really dealt with the fact that had he won the fight, had he been a better fighter none of this would have happened. He doesn’t want to think of that, so now he has this young kid that he’s going to use to get whats his, no matter what has to be done. We have to go over there to America, we have to win this fight, I don’t care if my kid dies doing it, and that’s kind of the setup of the picture.
The last time you worked on a Rocky movie with Stallone, Sly famously said that you put him in the intensive care unit for a week. First, how did all that go down and will you two get into any tussles this time around for Creed II?
Dolph Lundgren: Ok yeah so the first time I worked with him, he ended up in the intensive care unit, apparently because they claim I hit him too hard. Look, I just did what I was told to do because you know I was a kid and he was my boss, so I hit him in the body a few times. I felt bad about it. I mean, I got two weeks off, so it was kind of cool I could go out and party, I was only 27, but I did feel bad about it. I’ve heard about it all of these years. Obviously, yes, in the script there are some altercations between us, a little bit of a punch up, so there’s a physical little situation between us. That was fun to shoot. Stallone was really tired. He had been doing some big emotional scenes, and he came walking in a bad mood, and I had to do this fight scene with him. I felt sorry for him because he’s 10 years older than me and I was feeling tired and it was the middle of the night, but we worked it out, and it was kind of fun to be in there and throw punches with him again. It brought back a lot of memories. All of the “Expendables” movies we did we never fought each other, we always fought other people, so it was really cool.
Considering everything going on in the world today between the U.S. and Russia, is now the perfect time for Drago’s return and for this film to be coming out?
Dolph Lundgren: I think it’s a great time, of course. Stallone is very smart. Russians are again becoming a little more of our enemies here, and in this picture, my character, like I said, he’s not a big fan of Russia. He thinks they are just as bad as everyone else. He wants to take out his revenge on them. But I think there’s an interest in Russians as characters now more than before because Russia is really the only other nation that can sort of maybe kick America’s ass or at least we think they can. If you are the big guy on the block its the other big guys that you have to look out for and watch out for, and I think that’s what is happening. So I think it’s the perfect time to bring Ivan Drago back and make the Russians someone we can fear again.
Creed II is in theaters Nov. 21
