Dolph Lundgren

Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lundgren has starred in more than 80 films,all of them in the action genre.

Lundgren received a degree in chemical engineering from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in the early 1980s and a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney in 1982. He holds the rank of 4th ''dan'' black belt in Kyokushin karate and was European champion in 1980–81. While in Sydney, he became a bodyguard for Jamaican singer Grace Jones and began a relationship with her. He received a Fulbright scholarship to MIT and moved to Boston. Jones convinced him to leave the university and move to New York City to be with her and begin acting, where, after a short stint as a model and bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub The Limelight, Lundgren got a small debut role as a KGB henchman in the James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''.

After appearing in ''Rocky IV'', Lundgren portrayed He-Man in the 1987 science fantasy film ''Masters of the Universe'', Lt. Nikolai Petrovitch Rachenko in ''Red Scorpion'' (1988) and Frank Castle in the 1989 film ''The Punisher''. Throughout the 1990s he appeared in films such as '' I Come in Peace'' (1990), ''Showdown in Little Tokyo'' (1991), ''Universal Soldier'' film series (1992, 2009, 2012), ''Joshua Tree'' (1993), '' Men of War'' (1994), ''Johnny Mnemonic'' (1995), '' Silent Trigger'' (1996), and ''Blackjack'' (1998). In 2004 he directed his first film, '' The Defender'', and subsequently directed ''The Mechanik'' (2005), '' Missionary Man'' (2007), '' Command Performance'' (2009), '' Icarus'' (2010), ''Castle Falls'' (2021) and upcoming film '' Wanted Man'' (2023), also starring in all of them.

After a long spell performing in direct-to-video films since 1995, Lundgren returned to Hollywood in 2010 with the role of Gunner Jensen in '' The Expendables'', alongside Sylvester Stallone and an all-action star cast. He reprised his role in ''The Expendables 2'' (2012) and ''The Expendables 3'' (2014). Also in 2014, he co-starred in '' Skin Trade'', an action thriller about human trafficking he co-wrote and produced. He reprised his role of Ivan Drago in ''Creed II'' (2018), and is due to reprise his role as Gunner Jensen in ''The Expendables 4''.Wales, George
"Confirmed: ''The Expendables 4'' will arrive in 2017"
''www.gamesradar.com'', published 10 December 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.Guerra, Victoria

''www.foodworldnews.com'', published 10 December 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015. He appears in ''Aquaman'' (2018), playing the father of Mera. He also had a recurring role in the fifth season of ''Arrow''.

Early life

Hans Lundgren was born on 3 November 1957 in Spånga, the son of Sigrid Birgitta ( Tjerneld; 1932–1992), a language teacher, and Karl Hugo Johan Lundgren (1923–2000), an engineer (M.Sc.) and economist (MBA) for the Swedish government. He lived in Spånga until the age of 13, when he moved to his grandparents' home in Nyland, Ångermanland. Some sources wrongly state 1959 as his year of birth, but Lundgren himself has confirmed it to be 1957. He has two sisters, Katarina and Annika and a younger brother Johan. Lundgren claims his father was physically abusive and vented his frustration on his wife and eldest son. He has stated that, during his tirades, his father would call him a "loser", which motivated him later as he grew more ambitious to prove himself. But he also said, "I still love my father, no matter what happened. There are many things about him I still admire. As a child, I was probably too much like him, very stubborn—perhaps that's what he couldn't deal with." He has cited his troubled relationship with his father as the reason he developed a desire to participate in heavy contact sports such as boxing and karate.

He was first credited as Dolph Lundgren with the release of ''Rocky IV''. The name "Dolph" came from a relative on his mother's side.

Lundgren has said that, as a child, he was insecure and suffered from allergies, describing himself as a "runt". He showed a keen interest in drumming and had aspirations to become a rock star. At age seven, he tried judo and Gōjū-ryū. He took up Kyokushin karate at the age of 10, and began lifting weights as a teenager. Lundgren stated that "My dad always told me that if I wanted to make something special with my life, I had to go to America." After graduating from high school with straight A's, he spent some time in the United States in the 1970s on various academic scholarships, studying chemical engineering at Washington State University and Clemson University. He studied chemical engineering for a year at Washington State University between 1975 and 1976, prior to serving his mandatory one year in the Swedish Coastal Artillery at the Coastal Ranger School. In the late 1970s, he enrolled at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.

Amidst his years of studying, Lundgren honed his karate skills by training hard in the dojo for five years, attaining the rank of 2nd ''dan'' black belt in Kyokushin in 1978. He captained the Swedish Kyokushin karate team, and was a formidable challenger at the 1979 World Open Tournament (arranged by the Kyokushin Karate Organization) when he was only a green belt. He won the European championships in 1980 and 1981, and a heavyweight tournament in Australia in 1982. In 1982, Lundgren graduated with a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney. During his time in Sydney, he earned a living as a bouncer in a nightclub in the notorious King's Cross area.

Lundgren was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT in 1983. However, while preparing for the move to Boston, he was spotted in the nightclub where he worked in Sydney and was hired by Grace Jones as a bodyguard, and the two became lovers. Their relationship developed dramatically, and he moved with her to New York City. While living with Jones in her New York City apartment, Lundgren dabbled in modeling at the Zoli Agency but was described as "a bit too tall and muscular for a model's size 40". He earned a living as a bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub The Limelight, which was housed in the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, working with Chazz Palminteri. In the daytime, he studied drama at the Warren Robertson Theatre Workshop and has said that "my time in New York City opened up my adolescent Swedish eyes to a multitude of different people and lifestyles, mostly in the arts. I hung out with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Iman and Steve Rubell, danced at Studio 54, and studied acting with Andie MacDowell and Tom Hulce." Friends told him he should be in movies. He would later quit studying at MIT after two weeks to pursue acting.

Career

1980s

On the set of the James Bond film ''A View to a Kill'', Jones suggested that he try out for a part in the film, which led to his feature film debut playing the very minor role of a suited KGB henchman named Venz. In the film, Lundgren appears in the scene in which the KGB's General Gogol (Walter Gotell) confronts Max Zorin ( Christopher Walken) about leaving the KGB, at a racing ground and ends in a minor brawl in which Lundgren's character Venz points a gun at Zorin. Roger Moore, in his last performance as James Bond, once memorably said, "Dolph is larger than Denmark". Lundgren found the entertainment business more attractive and rewarding than chemical engineering, so he decided to pursue a career in acting despite having no formal training. Upon learning that Sylvester Stallone was seeking an imposing fighter to play Ivan Drago in ''Rocky IV'' (1985), Lundgren sent videos and pictures of himself to a distant contact of Stallone, eventually reaching him. Lundgren tried out for the role, but as he himself has stated, he was initially turned down because he was too tall.

However, he eventually beat 5,000 other hopefuls to land his breakout role opposite Stallone, Carl Weathers, and Brigitte Nielsen. To improve his physique and athletic abilities, he trained intensely in bodybuilding and boxing for five months before the film was shot. Lundgren said, "We trained six days a week—weights in the morning for about an hour, then boxing in the afternoon. We did a split of chest and back one day and then shoulders, legs, and arms the next. We boxed for an hour and a half, practiced the fight choreography, and did bag work and abs." He weighed – during filming, but in the film he was billed at ; one publisher said of Drago, "He's a hulking 261 pounds of merciless fighting machine, the best that Soviet science & medicine can create". His character's lines "If he dies, he dies" and "I must break you" are amongst the best known of the ''Rocky'' series, and have often been cited in popular culture. In an interview, Sylvester Stallone said, "I went to the emergency room. My blood pressure was like 290, and they put me on a low-level flight to St. John's Hospital where I was put into intensive care because the pericardial sac around my heart was swelling and impeding the beating of my heart. I was there, like I said, for nine days surrounded by nuns. Not good." Lundgren later fought in a real boxing match against former UFC fighter Oleg Taktarov, and lost via decision. Lundgren has highlighted the premiere of ''Rocky IV'' at Westwood Movie Theatre as the moment which changed his life, remarking, "I walked in to a Westwood movie theater as Grace Jones' boyfriend and walked out ninety minutes later as the movie star Dolph Lundgren. I was shell-shocked for years from the mind-boggling and daunting experience of being a student-athlete from tiny Sweden suddenly having to live up a new action-star persona."

In 1987, Lundgren released on home media a workout video called ''Maximum Potential,'' and got his first lead role as He-Man in ''Masters of the Universe'', based on the popular children's toyline and cartoon. He starred alongside Frank Langella, Meg Foster, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty and Courteney Cox. Lundgren weighed his all-time heaviest during the filming at . The film was a critical failure and viewed as far too violent for a family picture. It is referred to as a "flop" by ''Variety'' magazine, and has a 13% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Lundgren was criticized for being too wooden as a leading man, and it was dismissed as "a glossy fantasy starring monosyllabic Dolph Lundgren".

He next starred in Joseph Zito's ''Red Scorpion'' in 1988, opposite M. Emmet Walsh, Al White, T. P. McKenna and Carmen Argenziano. The plot centers on Lundgren's character Nikolai, a Soviet Spetsnaz-trained KGB agent who is sent to an African country where Soviet, Czechoslovakian and Cuban forces support the government's fight against an anti-communist rebel movement. Nikolai is ordered to assassinate the movement's leader, but eventually switches sides. The film was partly shot in Namibia and it was claimed that Grace Jones joined him during production in Swakopmund, insisting on staying in a $3000-a-month villa, even though his girlfriend at the time was reported to be Paula Barbieri. The film was poorly received and has an 11% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' said, "Dolph Lundgren's pectorals are the real stars of ''Red Scorpion,'' an action-adventure movie set in the fictional African country of Mombaka. Filmed from below so that one has the sense of peering up at a massive kinetic sculpture, his glistening torso, which over the course of the film is subjected to assorted tortures, is the movie's primary visual focus whenever the action slows down. And since Mr. Lundgren remains stone-faced, rarely speaking except to issue commands in a surprisingly hesitant monotone, his heaving chest actually communicates more emotion than his mumbling lips."

Lundgren then starred as Marvel Comics character Frank Castle (a.k.a. The Punisher) in the 1989 film ''The Punisher''. The film was directed by Mark Goldblatt, with a screenplay by Boaz Yakin. Although it is based on the Marvel Comics character, the film changes many details of the original comic book origin and the main character does not wear the trademark "skull". ''The Punisher'' was filmed in Sydney, Australia and also featured Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbé, Kim Miyori, and Barry Otto. The film received mainly negative reviews, currently holds a 24% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Christopher Null gave the film 1 out of 5, stating the film was "marred by cheeseball sets and special effects, lame fight sequences, and some of the worst acting ever to disgrace the screen." Whilst criticizing the film's storyline and acting, ''Time Out'' magazine concluded the film was "destructive, reprehensible, and marvelous fun".

1990s

1990–1994

In 1990, Lundgren starred in Craig R. Baxley's sci-fi thriller '' I Come in Peace'' (also known as ''Dark Angel'') opposite Brian Benben, Betsy Brantley, Matthias Hues and Jay Bilas. Lundgren plays a tough Houston cop with an inner sensitivity, who does not let the rules of police procedure prevent him pursuing his mission to wipe out a gang of drug dealers who killed his partner. Lundgren said of his role, "What attracted me to Dark Angel is that I get to do more than just action. There's some romance, some comedy, some drama. I actually have some clever dialogue in this one. I get to act." One author said "Universe (1987) or Dark Angel (1990), demonstrates that nature and his undgren'shairdresser have suited him perfectly to Nazi genetically engineered baddie roles."

In 1991, Lundgren starred in Manny Coto's action film ''Cover Up'' opposite Louis Gossett Jr. Lundgren portrays a US Marine veteran turned reporter and who finds his own life in jeopardy after stumbling across a political cover-up over a Middle Eastern terrorist plan to kill thousands of people. The primary terrorist group in the film is the fictional group Black October, in reference to Black September. The film was shot in Israel.

Later in 1991, Lundgren appeared in martial arts action film ''Showdown in Little Tokyo'' opposite Brandon Lee. In the film, Lee and Lundgren play cops who are partnered to investigate yakuzas. The film received a mainly negative reception from critics and was criticized for its violence; Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' described it as "violent, but spiritless." ''Variety'' wrote "Lundgren can hold his own with other action leads as an actor and could easily be Van Damme-marketable if only he'd devote as much attention to quality control as he does to pectoral development." David J. Fox of the ''Los Angeles Times'', however, described the film as a "class act", and some retrospective critics find it to be entertaining for its genre.

In 1992, Lundgren starred in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year in the sci-fi action picture '' Universal Soldier'' directed by Roland Emmerich. Lundgren (as Sergeant Andrew Scott) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (as Luc Deveraux) play U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War who are sent to secure a village against North Vietnamese forces. However they end up shooting each other dead after Devereaux discovers that Scott has gone insane and has resorted to torture and kill the villagers. They are later reanimated in a secret Army project along with a large group of other previously dead soldiers and sent on a mission as GR operatives. At the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Van Damme and Lundgren were involved in a verbal altercation that almost turned physical when both men pushed each other only to be separated, but it was believed to have only been a publicity stunt. ''Universal Soldier'' opened in theatres on 10 July 1992, a moderate success domestically with $36,299,898 in US ticket sales, but a major blockbuster worldwide, making over $65 million overseas, which earned the film a total of $102 million worldwide, on a $23 million budget. Despite being a box office hit however, it was not well-received; mainstream critics dismissed the movie as a ''Terminator 2'' clone. Film critic Roger Ebert said, "it must be fairly thankless to play lunks who have to fight for the entire length of a movie while exchanging monosyllabic idiocies", including it in his book ''I hated, hated, hated this movie''.

In 1993, Lundgren starred opposite Kristian Alfonso and George Segal in Vic Armstrong's ''Joshua Tree''. Lundgren plays Wellman Anthony Santee, a former racecar driver who has turned to hauling exotic stolen cars with his friend Eddie Turner (Ken Foree). One day he is framed by police officer Frank Severance (Segal) for the murder of a highway patrolman, also killing his friend Eddie. Santee is sent to prison after recovering in a prison hospital, but escapes during transfer and takes a female hostage named Rita Marrick (Alfonso) at a gas station, not suspecting that she's a cop. On the run from the law, involving exotic cars and desert scenery, Santee must prove his innocence and prove Severance guilty of being involved in the car ring and for murder. Much of the film was filmed in the Alabama Hills of the Sierra Nevada and the desert of the Joshua Tree National Park of southeast California.

In 1994, Lundgren starred in Bruce Malmuth's '' Pentathlon'' as an East German Olympic gold medalist pentathlete on the run from an abusive coach (David Soul). Lundgren trained with the U.S. pentathlon team in preparation for the role, which later led to him being selected to serve as the (non-competing) Team Leader of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Modern Pentathlon team during the Atlanta Games, to promote the image of the sport and to coordinate planning and other details between the team and the United States Olympic Committee. The film was seen negatively by most critics; ''Film Review'' said it was "appallingly acted and monotonous" and Video Movie Guide 2002 described it as a "silly Cold War thriller".

Later in 1994, Lundgren appeared in Perry Lang's '' Men of War'' (scripted by John Sayles) alongside Charlotte Lewis and BD Wong as Nick Gunar, a former Special Ops soldier who leads a group of mercenaries to a treasure island in the South China Sea. The film was mainly shot in Thailand, with Krabi and Phong Nga making up most of the island scenery. The film was well received by some critics. One author said "''Men of War'' invokes the most vividly remembered fighting in a foreign land of recent Western history. This innovation, associating the muscle image with the Vietnam experience, is carried over into other contemporary muscle films." Another said, "fine performances by an all-star Dolph Lundgren as a mercenary assigned to "convince" a cast in this offbeat and disturbing film."

1995–1999

In 1995, Lundgren appeared in Robert Longo's ''Johnny Mnemonic'', co-starring Keanu Reeves. The film portrays screenwriter William Gibson's dystopian cyberpunk view of the future with the world dominated by megacorporations and with strong East Asian influences. Reeves plays the title character, a man with a cybernetic brain implant designed to store information. Lundgren plays Karl Honig, a Jesus-obsessed hitman and street preacher who wears a robe and carries a shepherd's staff. The film was shot on location in Toronto and Montreal in 12 weeks, filling in for the film's Newark, New Jersey settings. The film was premiered in Japan first on 15 April 1995 and features a previously composed score by Michael Danna, different editing, and more scenes with Lundgren and Japanese star Takeshi Kitano. Critical response was negative overall; Roger Ebert said, "Johnny Mnemonic is one of the great gestures of recent cinema, a movie which doesn't deserve one nanosecond of serious analysis." The film was a financial disappointment, grossing $19,075,720 in the domestic American market against its $26m budget. The cloak worn by Lundgren in the film is now located in the lobby of the Famous Players Coliseum in Mississauga, Ontario, it was his last theatrical release film until 2010. Later in 1995, Lundgren appeared in Ted Kotcheff's '' The Shooter'', an action drama in which he plays Michael Dane, a U.S. Marshall who gets caught up in politics when he is hired to solve the assassination of a Cuban ambassador.

In 1996, Lundgren starred in Russell Mulcahy's '' Silent Trigger'', about a sniper (Lundgren) and his female spotter (played by Gina Bellman). Lundgren plays a former Special Forces agent who joins a secretive government agency (called "The Agency") as an assassin. The movie takes place in and around an unfinished city skyscraper, shot in Montreal. The Motion Picture Guide to the films of 1997 said, "this stylish but empty thriller gives square-jawed Dolph Lundgren another shot at straight-to-video immortality".

In 1997, Lundgren starred in Frédéric Forestier's ''The Peacekeeper'', playing Major Frank Cross of the US Air Force and the only man who can prevent the president being assassinated and with the ability to thwart an imminent nuclear holocaust. The threat is from a terrorist group, which has stolen the President's personal communications computer with the capability of launching the US arsenal to threaten global security. The film co-starred Michael Sarrazin

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