Action hero Sylvester Stallone broke his neck while filming a fight scene with wrestler co-star "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in his latest movie.
The Rocky star has revealed he needed emergency surgery and a metal plate inserted in his neck after the accident on the set of The Expendables.
The 63-year-old told FHM magazine: "Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other's ass, one guy tougher than the next. No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy.
"Actually, my fight with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was so vicious that I ended up getting a hairline fracture in my neck. I'm not joking.
"I haven't told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation afterwards. I now have a metal plate in my neck."
The upcoming movie centres on a gang of mercenaries on their way to destroy a foreign dictator and has action fans salivating.
It features some of the biggest names of the genre - including Arnold Schwarzenegger, 62, Bruce Willis, 54, Dolph Lundgren, 52, Mickey Rourke, 57, Jet Li, 46, and Jason Statham, 37.
It also stars Brittany Murphy, who died in December of a heart attack.
Stallone, who wrote the script and directed the film, said the cast took the stunts to the absolute limit.
"Man, those guys were up for it. They got out of bed at 5.30am just to shoot a small five-minute scene," he told the magazine.
Stallone has experience in getting hurt during filming - having almost died while making Rocky IV.
He said: "Dolph (Lundgren) and I always went for it. I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling.
"At one point, he hit me so hard on the head I felt my spine compress.
"He then hit me with an almighty uppercut. That night my chest started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room.
"I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died.
"After that, I was like, 'Dolph, it's only a movie, bro'."
The Rocky star has revealed he needed emergency surgery and a metal plate inserted in his neck after the accident on the set of The Expendables.
The 63-year-old told FHM magazine: "Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other's ass, one guy tougher than the next. No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy.
"Actually, my fight with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was so vicious that I ended up getting a hairline fracture in my neck. I'm not joking.
"I haven't told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation afterwards. I now have a metal plate in my neck."
The upcoming movie centres on a gang of mercenaries on their way to destroy a foreign dictator and has action fans salivating.
It features some of the biggest names of the genre - including Arnold Schwarzenegger, 62, Bruce Willis, 54, Dolph Lundgren, 52, Mickey Rourke, 57, Jet Li, 46, and Jason Statham, 37.
It also stars Brittany Murphy, who died in December of a heart attack.
Stallone, who wrote the script and directed the film, said the cast took the stunts to the absolute limit.
"Man, those guys were up for it. They got out of bed at 5.30am just to shoot a small five-minute scene," he told the magazine.
Stallone has experience in getting hurt during filming - having almost died while making Rocky IV.
He said: "Dolph (Lundgren) and I always went for it. I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling.
"At one point, he hit me so hard on the head I felt my spine compress.
"He then hit me with an almighty uppercut. That night my chest started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room.
"I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died.
"After that, I was like, 'Dolph, it's only a movie, bro'."
source:heraldsun.com.au
