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Sylvester, how did the third installment of The Expendables come about? How did you and Arnold Schwarzenegger decide to collaborate on this project?
Sylvester Stallone: It is hard to find something in this genre that is different, and this one was different. And even though the film is contemporary, it is also futuristic at the same time. The most important thing is who are the players, and who is going to compete with you, be your antagonist and your buddy in this? It was Arnold of course, and when he complied it was a green lit. There was no one else that was considered— he was the guy.
The reason the two of you collaborated was that you bring the best out of each other.
AS: I think competitive misery pays off. I remember in the ’80s, when the action genre really gathered pace, we were very competitive. Actually, I remember this one time in the mid eighties we ran into each other and I remember I told Sly ‘I think in Commando I killed more people than you did in Rambo’. And he said ‘absolutely not I killed 97 and you killed 93 only’ so I said ‘ok you won this one, but the next movie I will kill more people than you will!”
SS: We have very healthy egos and are very competitive. Everything that we have accomplished in our life is through struggle and overcoming odds and just not willing to settle for second best. And if you get two of those kinds of personalities together, it will be good for the film and for both of us.
How did you come on board The ExpendablesIII?
Antonio Banderas: Sylvester approached me in the parking lot and told me “you should come and join us”. But I said I don’t want to play the bad guy as they die in the end, and if it is a franchise than I won’t be there (laughs). Later he called me and said that he had a beautiful part— he is an angel and can have a role in future franchises too.
Harrison Ford: I’m playing a character that is an authority figure. He creates an assignment. He manages the Expendables, and he has an interesting relationship to the character Sly plays. I am involved a little in the action. It’s an interesting character.
Jason Statham: Having been a part of the first two installments, it’s probably the biggest action movie to be ever made. This time around you know we have got Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford and I mean the list goes on. We’ve never seen the assemblage of so many significant faces of heroes.
Mel Gibson is the principle antagonist in The Expendables 3. Tell us something about his character.
SS: The greatest enemy of all time, they had once been close but there has been a betrayal. So now it gets personal and conflicted and that is what I have with Mel Gibson who plays Camron Stoneback.
Does the introduction of the younger Expendables bring any change in the way the ‘old school’ guys function? The latest installment has been touted as the best.
SS: It is very tough to cast because they are very physical. So they need to have that ability that they know that are in for a hard time and this is no place for broken nails, its about broken tooth, broken jaw, broken leg. So they brought in Kellan Lutz, who is a real physical specimen. A great guy who has this great screen appeal Victor Ortiz, a professional fighter Rhonda Rousey and world champion MMA who can actually do what you see. And when you see her on screen doing these incredible feats, there is no wire, that is her. There is Glen who is kind of.not the brain, but the high tech guy of the group. All of a sudden the Expendables have become tech savvy. Whereas, the old guys used to just kick doors and blow up things. So that is the difference. We have been brought in the new age by the new guys. They think our old ways are ridiculous.
HF: It’s Stallone’s version of The Avengers. We have Rocky, The Terminator, Indiana Jones, The Transporter, Mad Max, Desperado and Blade. The movie has tons of humour, there’s a lot of energy and action, but it’s well phased and controlled.
Sylvester Stallone has been at the helm of The Expendable series. Where do you think his real genius as a creator lie?
AS: I think that Sly always does an extraordinary job in creating a story. He is a very good story teller, writer and director, although he is not directing this one. But his supervision is always there and he is also very good in the editing room. He truly knows how to tell a story and use each one’s talent in the best possible way and make every one shine.
AB: Sly is one of the smartest people I have ever met in my life. He knows this film better than anybody. So he knows how to resurrect, how to put together an event like this. He can create an artifact that is complicated but works like a clock. I have a great deal of respect for him.
HF: I had the best time working with Sly. He’s a very talented actor who long ago won the battle of whether or not he should be taken seriously.
JS: Sly’s been a movie star for all these years, but when you look underneath that, you know he’s a film-maker, a director and a writer. Nobody knows how to make these kind of movies better than him. So it’s great to be around that kind of influence.
With so many big stars in the movie, how do you perceive this trend of multistarrers?
AS: I was very fortunate to know all of these guys personally. It makes working together fun, when you come to the set we all come together there is an energy in the room.
AB: It became bigger than the movie. The Expendables has become a cinematic event in which you can see legendary actors that have individual carriers and are doing something together. It’s this simple fact that makes the whole experience different. One of the interesting things about The Expendables is that everybody has been involved from the beginning. They have a capacity of loving themselves and I think that is actually very important.
HF: I have no interest in how anybody else does what they do. I am interested in their work you know according to what it is, but I don’t feel competitive with anybody else. So I think we all have to figure out the job before us. We all do our work the same way. We’re part of the process of story- telling. We have to figure out what the story is and tell it in its most efficient and emotional way.
How do you think Patrick Huges has contributed to the movie and made it different from the earlier The Expendables 2?
SS: I told Patrick Huges, not to think about the earlier Expendables. Approach it as an original. If you try to imitate something it is just goanna dull you.
HF: Patrick is young but he’s also tremendously focussed and very aware and recognises opportunity. His understanding of the importance of tone was extremely impressive.
There is a lot of comic relief in the movie. How did that come about?
AS: I spoke to the director and said we can really make something out of this character. There is a very intense moment where I wipe out all the guards at the top of the prison, but it is nice to have a little smirk there; a sense of humour.
AB: I love comedy. I think it is among the most difficult things you can do in our trade. Galgo is the name of my character. He is a guy who holds a lot of pain in his heart and he covers that with humour and compulsive behaviour, but a breaking point comes in the movie when his real character is revealed.
How different is The Expendables 3 from the earlier editions?
SS: We wanted it to be rough and raw. I just kind of let it go, there were not many punches there. Well the same thing here. Nothing is soft here like in the last one.
JS: It’s probably the biggest action movie ever made.
Jason, how would you describe the relationship between your character Lee and Stallone’s Barney? Has it changed from the previous installments of the movie?
JS: You know they obviously have a different feeling about women in particular and relationships. I’m trying to get one and he is so jaded that he can’t try and get himself into this nonsense. So you know in between the two, there’s sort of a place that they are in and it’s quite funny.
Antonio, Your character Galgo is new in the film. How does he fit into the story?
AB: He does not fit at the beginning (laughs) at all. He was expelled out and that is the funny part. He desperately wants to be a part of The Expendables. Basically, because he is absolutely alone, a solitary character, he has nobody. In a way he is a very tender character and you feel for him, besides he is tough when he wants to be.
The Expendables 3 is an out and out action film and injuries are part of the game. Were you injured on the sets?
AB: I got injured when I gave the first shot in the movie and I carried it all through the movie. But I did not say that to anybody because I didn’t want them to think that I am getting older. It was just running up the roof, that was my first shot and I got this pain in my right knee. It’s gone now but it stayed there for a couple of months. I did all the stunts myself. They put the most dangerous stunts, one running in a a building with all the explosions and the last one, where I am fighting the bad guys along with Rhonda.
To wrap it up, how was it like to work with the new Expendables?
AS: This one I think has a really good sense of humour and it also has a lot of new talent. For instance, I worked with Jet Lee in this scene and I was speaking to Sly and I said that this guys does his action scene of disarming a few guys and pulling out his gun and shooting everyone. He did it so fast that I could not see the moves. So to have all this different talent and to bring all of them together, and to have that many action stars is really extraordinary.
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