Imagine being the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger — the Terminator himself — and watching him terminate your mattress by tossing it off the balcony then turning around and telling you to go make your bed.
The two biggest action movie stars of our time, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sat down for an exclusive TMZ interview to discuss their respective careers.
Arnold and Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons was a one-hour special that recently aired on Fox and is currently streaming on Hulu. In the interview, Sly and Arnie open up about their dislike for each other early in their careers, their respect for each other later in their careers, and their friendship now.
The duo were interviewed by TMZ creator Harvey Levin, and during one portion of the sit-down they discussed the hardships of their respective childhoods. Arnold said that his abusive, alcoholic father was the reason why he was determined to get out of the house at an early age, emphasizing “I had a need to create my own world.”
Schwarzenegger pinpoints the abusive world that his father created as his motivation to get out and become something important. He admitted that he believes “that desire and that fire in the belly that we have,” referring to Stallone as well, is because of their horrendous upbringing.
Levin then brought up how their kids experience the exact opposite of them. The two agreed that their children are privileged and had a loving childhood, to which Arnold stated that it doesn’t mean that their children can’t still be successful, pending on what lessons they learn.
He then offered a rather interesting example, stating that his children had to abide by certain strict rules in certain things they did such as cleaning and other chores. However, if they took shortcuts then he would make it harder for them.
Schwarzenegger explained:
“My kids had to wash their own clothes, they had to wash their own bedwear, and every so often when I saw them cheating and someone else did it, I grabbed their mattresses and I threw it off the balcony of the bedroom.”
With Stallone and Levin humorously surprised by Arnold’s story, he added, “Then they have to drag it up again and they have to make the bed again.”
The interview continued as Schwarzenegger complimented Stallone for how he has raised his kids. Stallone didn’t have any wild mattress-tossing stories, however.
The interview is quite well done and the two movie legends are honest in their recollections as they discuss their rivalry and how badly they wanted to be better than the other. Stallone even admits to feeling extremely annoyed when Schwarzenegger won the 1977 Golden Globe for best newcomer despite Stallone having wrote and starred in Rocky. When Rocky then won best picture, Stallone reacted by tossing flowers towards Schwarzenegger who was sitting by, as a way to embarrass him. It’s a wonder Arnold didn’t at least toss them back.
Maybe he would’ve tossed something back if he had a mattress.
