While stuntman and actor Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren are both no stranger to action on screen, their dust-up in the Lundgren-directed action pic Castle Falls proved painful — for Dolph.
Adkins, a martial artist and veteran of Marvel movies like Doctor Strange, plays a down on his luck MMA fighter, who discovers that a building about to be demolished contains a stash of illicit money. Lundgren’s character, who needs the dough for his daughter’s medical care, also finds out about the loot, and the pair face off inside the structure.
“Scott and I had a good punch-up,” Lundgren recalls to ABC Audio, noting there’s nearly 20 years between them. “I mean, he’s a bit faster than me, so I have to keep up. And he’s…done more of it lately. And then I ripped my bicep tendon…towards the end of the fight.”
Adkins says with a laugh, “Something to remember me by.”
Lundgren laughs, “Yeah, I do. Every time I watch the movie, I see it. It’s when you crack my arm over your shoulder…”
Onscreen, their characters eventually unite against a team of crooks who also want to raid the cash.
Adkins had worked with Lundgren before, so he was “well over” the fanboy element of acting with the star of films like Rocky IV and Masters of the Universe. He and called it a “no-brainer” when Lundgren asked him to star in a film he was directing.
“Of course he still is Dolph Lundgren, one of the action legends from the golden era,” Adkins says. “I remember going to the cinema to watch He-Man at the tender age of whatever it was, but it’s a pleasure to work with him…”
Castle Falls is available on demand Friday, December 3.
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