Exclusive ! Visiting Dolph Lundgren on the set of by Jérémie Damoiseau   PART 1 PART 2 What hasn’t already been said about Sylvester Stallone’s fan-boy dream that is The Expendables? With the most simple pitch and a bunch of tough guys, Sly, the one and only, has managed to make us giddy like we’ve never been before even in our wildest fantasies of “bad-assness”. You know, kind of like who would win in a fight between Batman vs Superman, Bruce Lee vs Jackie Chan, Jet Li vs Dolph Lundgren?! So this unlikely little project first showed up during last November’s AFM (American Film Market) during which was announced that Sylvester Stallone’s next action extravaganza was not Rambo V, but a straight-forward mercenary flick co-starring Jason Statham and Jet Li entitled The Expendables with a $60 million budget (rumored to have gone up to 80 million by now). Cool. But the buzz unexpectedly really started a few weeks later at the Transporter 3 premiere when Sly let the cat out of the bag that he was signing Dolph Lundgren onto the Nu Image/Millennium production. From there began one of the most unique casting processes ever heard of, with a succession of other bad-asses added to the mix (Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Gary Daniels, Randy Couture, Steve Austin), wish-fulfillments (Arnold Schwarzenegger), rumors (Sandra Bullock, Danny Trejo), rejections (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kurt Russell), speculations (Bruce Willis) and other withdrawals (Forest Whitaker) and unrealistic fan utopias (Wesley Snipes, Steven Seagal)... So, Dolph Lundgren. Granted, the Swedish hunk has never drawn big crowds and hasn't even become a cultural media icon and target such as the Muscles from Bruxelles or the most untouchable guy with a ponytail. A good half of Lundgren's films have been bad choices or turned out as disappointments and never managed to reach mainstream attraction/level. But the Swedish iron man managed to survive the Hollywood dream and nightmare, keeping his career intact and remaining a solid household name worldwide for old-school action flicks. Moreover, the man has been reinventing himself, namely by taking on the director's reins five years ago. By doing so by accident, Lundgren fulfilled a longtime hidden ambition of his. To everybody's surprise, Dolph showed how much he learned from his 20 years of services in the B movie realm, and the outcome of his directorial debuts was fairly convincing and promising. A solid reputation started to grow among the action fan communities. It's therefore natural that Dolph implemented directing as a core part of his career. The Defender, The Mechanik, Missionary Man, and this year, Command Performance and Icarus: with already five films to his belt is Lundgren becoming as prolific as Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood?! So when you say Lundgren finally back on the big screen, with Rocky, and to get it on with Jet Li, twice... I say sign me up! In the past year I've had the chance to visit Mr Lundgren on the sets of his recent Direct Contact and Command Performance, both shot in Bulgaria. But it sounded like a totally different ballgame when it was suggested I come and drop by New Orleans, Louisiana where he's been filming his new acting gig with Sly and the gang. June 26, 2009 - Being flown from Paris to New Orleans, I landed 15 hours later in a hotel suite bigger than my apartment. My arrival is amidst the last few days of the shoot. They have been shooting nights for a while and the filming schedule has been changing constantly. So I’m on hold with Dolph who finally advised me to meet him in the lobby in the late afternoon to drive to the set. I first recognize his coach and sparring partner Slavi Slavov who I had met on set in Bulgaria. Slavi is a tough but extremely gentle Kyokushin and MMA fighter who has been training with Dolph since they met at the time of The Mechanik (despite a 15 years age difference). We're joined by Nyla, a 26 year-old petite Canadian fitness model training and hanging out with the guys. And now here appears Dolph Lundgren, laid back as usual, tanned, and sporting military-style shorts and a sleeve-less sportswear letting his two Expendables tattoos show off. A very unlikely sight in this British style luxury hotel! Randy Couture shows up, and exchange a few banalities and laughs with Dolph before the blond veteran action star finds a seat aside to finish memorizing his lines from “pink” script revised sides for today's scene. I'm briefly introduced to the impressive looking Couture who seems like a very nice, down to earth guy. In the van driving us to the set, Dolph briefs me on the latest with The Expendables, and his directorial effort Icarus (shot in Vancouver), wrapped just before coming to Louisiana. Dolph had been on a 4-hours sleep regime for weeks, training, working on his own projects, and filming. When we get to base camp, Dolph gets into make-up and takes some time to relax and focus. We're then driven to the set along with actor David Zayas who's also shooting “Dexter”, going back and forth between L.A. and New Orleans. The sun is setting. A beautiful building, is standing before us. It's a New Orleans courthouse coupled with a prison. While we're waiting for the set to be ready and huge exterior lights to be rigged, we're watching Sylvester Stallone playing with his two dogs on a small square of grass. Dolph wishes he had brought his own dogs and observes the building, probably art nouveau, while stretching his legs. He asks me about the reactions to Michael Jackson's death in Paris. Lundgren, a contemporary of Jackson, is being affected by the death of the pop icon, and candidly evokes going to a Jackson concert with the Universal Soldier producers from Carolco. “Thriller” defined an era for him, who at the time took a radical turn moving to New York with singer Grace Jones and giving up his PhD at M.I.T. to acting a shot, shortly before stardom hit him. A little while later, we're escorted to the second floor of the building. Dolph notices the interior, as impressive as the outside, when a local crew member tells us it was just renovated since it was totally flooded by hurricane Katrina. Puts things back in perspective for you, movies are make-believe, this is reality. There won’t be any action or shout out today. The scenes being shot, in comparison to the rest of the film, are rather minimalist. Nothing crazy. And for a big budget production the set didn't feel over the top or corporate, no heavy protocol except the usual film production ones. The crew was generally young and professional, everybody getting the job done in a casual manner. I guess when you come towards the end of a grueling two and half month shoot, everybody is burnt out and a certain routine have come into place. Cranes, carts of equipment, props, weapons and craft service are set up in a huge hallway but they're gonna be shooting in a small office, standing in for an interior of dictator General Garza's palace. On call for the scene are Gary Daniels, “Stone Cold Steve Austin”, David Zayas and Eric Roberts. But it really is Dolph Lundgren/Gunnar Jensen's big monologue scene. Sly talks the actors through the blocking rehearsal which is followed by wardrobe change and last make-up touches while camera and lighting crew are prepping. Got a bit of time to chill and chat in Dolph's trailer while he was wolfing down a bite. I'm sitting on a small couch next to a pair of huge military shoes (size 17?) “So this is different from Direct Contact huh?” says Dolph ironically. “Have you seen it?”, I ask him although guessing his reaction. “I don't want to!” he says with a facetious smirk/laugh. Going back to set after Dolph got more time to prep himself. The weapons/prop master, Kent H. Johnson (Rambo), hands Dolph what seems like a cross between a sawed off shotgun and a handgun, maybe a modified one (that sounds like something a character like Gunnar would use). Dolph handed this baby to me between two takes and I was surprised it was not a plastic toy, the thing felt real and heavy even though it wasn't huge! The weapon wrangler is also the real deal, a small but strong man in his 60s maybe, he knows his stuff for sure and is not to be messed with but a fun guy with a good sense of humor too... Read part 2