I try to keep the martial arts up. It’s a good thing, not just physically but also for your mind.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI try to keep the martial arts up. It’s a good thing, not just physically but also for your mind.
DOLPH LUNDGRENAs a hero, you have to play it straight. The audience is going to live through you, so you have to be more neutral. They will be projecting their thoughts and their actions onto the main character.
DOLPH LUNDGRENOne day you’ll understand the sheer awesomeness that is me.
DOLPH LUNDGRENEverybody’s life has some mythical quality. You struggle against obstacles, you fight to get to a higher level and there are great loves.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI think the energy I give off is quite non-confrontational. That’s something you learn from karate. Once you try to be a tough guy, you’ve got to pay up. You’ve got to prove yourself. And that’s exhausting.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI do a little bit of yoga-style meditation. Relaxing and breathing even just one minute a day makes a big difference.
DOLPH LUNDGRENUnless you’re playing a real character based on a real person, if someone else has done it before, you’re probably better off not watching it as an actor. Otherwise you end up trying to copy someone else.
DOLPH LUNDGRENYour body’s made to run, to walk, to trek long distances and carry things, work in a forest, and hunt animals. You have to keep it alive to function.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI discovered martial arts, first judo and then karate, and I became quite good at it, because I had something to prove. And more than anything, I needed to feel safe.
DOLPH LUNDGRENNicolas Cage is a great actor and he’s done some good action movies too.
DOLPH LUNDGRENWhen I was a teenager, my dad used to put a lot of pressure on me to be successful, and I’d really beat myself up about things like losing martial arts competitions.
DOLPH LUNDGRENThe acting style that has emerged from HD, because of the contrast and how sharp the picture is, it’s more neutrally played. The main character is very minamalistic. That’s what works in this digital age.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI like Stallone, because he writes. He sits down with a blank page and comes up with another Rambo movie. That isn’t very easy for anybody. He’s made it successful on top of that.
DOLPH LUNDGRENYou really have to work hard to create a three-dimensional character. You have to rehearse and explore and take your time. You can’t just memorize your lines and do it on the fly.
DOLPH LUNDGRENI’ve never had a good line. Well, maybe ‘I must break you’.
DOLPH LUNDGRENYou realize as a director that when you are cutting a film, you want to have alternatives. You need color and choices. You don’t want four takes that are identical.
DOLPH LUNDGREN