As the caravan of muscle that is the Expendables 2 cast traversed Europe this week promoting the movie, the cast made a stop in London for a very interesting and entertaining press conference. In an unprecedented perfect storm of superhero scheduling, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins were all on-hand to field questions about the film, their training and keeping up with each other on set.
Here are some highlights from the press junket.
Schwarzenegger on the movie: “I think the movie is going to blow everyone away because there is so much great action and funny scenes. The movie made me laugh a lot.”
Lundgren on the movie: “It’s bigger, badder, better and funnier … Sly came up with some pretty good jokes and Arnold, of course, had the funniest lines in the whole movie.”
Van Damme on returning to the big screen: “I’ve got to say thank you to Stallone for putting me back on the big screen because I’ve got this good face, and we just don’t see that on DVD.”
Schwarzenegger on the cast dynamic: “Everyone on the set was very helpful because they knew that I had ben out of the movies for eight years. They actually went a little bit overboard, thinking that I don’t know how to hold a gun anymore!”
Stallone on his best and worst film lines: “I guess my best is, ‘Yo, Adrian.’ It’s just something you can’t criticize. And some of my worst would be all my dialogue in, Stop, or my Mom Will Shoot.”
Statham on his fitness regimen: “It’s a state of mind, really. If you can be good with your diet, that’s the first point, and then the rest comes easy–the exercising, the commitment.”
Stallone on staying fit at 66: “It’s going lighter and more scientific and using the equipment they’re actually using with Olympians today and plyometrics. It’s more fun than the regular iron game.”
Schwarzenegger on his fitness regimen: “I come much more from the old school. I believe in reps and to just do it every day. I do the same exercises I did 50 years ago and they still work. I eat the same food I did 50 years ago and it still works. I’m addicted to exercising. I have to do it every day … But it is tougher as you get older. Your metabolism slows down, your muscles don’t respond exactly the same way anymore. When you do action scenes and fight scenes and run around you take longer to recuperate.”
