# Sylvester Stallone Says His 20-Year Rivalry With Arnold Schwarzenegger Only Ended When He Ran for Governor and Wasn’t ‘Doing Movies Anymore’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/sylvester-stallone-says-his-20-year-rivalry-with-arnold-schwarzenegger-only-ended-when-he-ran-for-governor-and-wasnt-doing-movies-anymore/
- Published: 2026-11-08T00:35:17+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T01:23:59+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/sylvester-stallone-rivalry-arnold-schwarzenegger-1236942209/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Stallone says competition with Schwarzenegger pushed his career.
- Their rivalry ended when Schwarzenegger ran for governor.
- The former rivals remain friendly and competitive.

## Summary

Sylvester Stallone says his long rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger began as both actors competed to lead the action-film genre in the 1980s and 1990s. He says their competition pushed him to take risks and kept a fire under him, but it ended when Schwarzenegger ran for California governor and stopped making films.

Stallone recalled that the rivalry played out on and off screen, with his Rambo films and Schwarzenegger’s Commando among the titles that fuelled the contest. The pair later became business partners in Planet Hollywood, founded in 1991, though Stallone says they would not even share a stage for a speech. He says they remain friendly and competitive, but no longer compete financially.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.