Sylvester Stallone says he and former rival Arnold Schwarzenegger are “good friends” these days.
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are now “good friends” because they are more “mellow” now.
The 80-year-old actor had a deep rivalry with his fellow action star in the 1980s and 90s but their rift has softened over the years and Stallone noted the “respect” between them is similar to the dynamic that plays out in his show Tulsa King between his character Dwight Manfredi and Frank Grillo’s rival mob boss Bill Bevilaqua.
Speaking during a PaleyFest NY 2026 panel over the weekend, Frank, 61, noted there is an “ebb and flow” of the relationship between the two characters.
He added: “I don’t think they trust each other, but there are times when they need each other.”
Stallone added: “There’s a certain camaraderie… there’s a respect. We’re very similar types.
“It’s like me and Schwarzenegger. We’re good friends now. We’ve gotten mellow. But you have these two adversarial guys, and sometimes you really find that in real life, that just continues to up your game. That’s it.”
Schwarzenegger, 79, previously explained their feud came to an end when he was launching his Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.
After the Fubar actor was approached and asked if his rival could be part of the venture, he realised it was time to end the “craziness” between them.
Speaking to Andy Cohen on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Schwarzenegger admitted: “We hated each other.
“We were kind of attacking each other and doing nasty things and saying nasty things about each other and all these stupid things.
“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?’”
The Terminator actor recalled thinking: “That’s actually a good idea, because it could bring us together. And I wanted that. At that point I had grown out of my craziness.”
The restaurant chain launched in 1991 in New York City with the backing of the future Expendables co-stars and other famous faces, and Arnold is proud of how they “made it work”.
He added: “Sure enough, we made it work.
“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.”
The pair previously reflected on how their rivalry was “very helpful” to both their careers.
In a joint interview for TMZ Presents: Arnold + Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons, the former Governor of California said: “There’s no two ways about that: He was very helpful in my career because I had something that I could chase.
“[I was] the one who started this whole thing … by opening up my mouth, saying stupid things, being competitive.”
Stallone added: “[When Arnie] came along I was like finally, something to motivate me. Because he is, dare I say it, competition, a threat, whatever word you wanna use.
“As soon as I saw him it was like bang, two alphas hitting. If we walked into a party we’d be staring at each other for a few seconds and then ‘I gotta get that guy. He didn’t do anything wrong but he will.’”
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are now ‘good friends’
