Dolph Lundgren Talks 'War Pigs' Movie & 'The Expendables' Mickey Rourke Reunion! EXCLUSIVE

Cinedigm has put together a must-see ensemble cast for their latest action-packed war thriller. In an exclusive interview with MStars News, actor Dolph Lundgren (Masters of the Universe) talks about his film, War Pigs, working with Luke Goss (Blade 2) and reuniting with Mickey Rourke (The Expendables).

According to the plot synopsis, War Pigs follows rag-tag band of military misfits led by disgraced Army Captain Jack Wosick (Goss). Sent on their World War II mission, Jack and his team have to capture a Nazi-developed super weapon, known the V3. To prevent the Nazis from gaining an insurmountable advantage against the Allies, Wosick teams with Captain Hans Picault (Lundgren), a German Anti-Nazi serving with the French Foreign Legion. With a battle-hardened World War I veteran, Colonel AJ Redding (Rourke), by his side, Wosick must earn the respect of his new squad before they can complete their suicide mission.

Before arriving in select theaters, On Demand, and Digital HD on September 18, the Rocky IV actor discusses the making-of War Pigs, reminisces about his role as He-Man in Masters of the Universe, and playing one of Marvel's popular heroes, Frank Castle aka The Punisher.

MStars News: Tell me how you became involved in the project.

Dolph Lundgren: I was sent the script. I loved the character! I had never done a World War II picture before. I was looking forward to working with Mickey Rourke. I know him and I worked with him a little bit in The Expendables. So I thought, "Why not?"

We shot in Utah. They shoot a lot of movies there for Europe. It pretty much looks like Europe in the winter. It was a good script. I decided I wanted to do it.

MS: Tell me what interested you about playing your character, Captain Hans Picault.

DL: Well, I thought it would be interesting to play a French Legionnaire. I had read much in detail. I knew what they did in World War II. I read how they trained, how they talked, and things like that. I thought it was interesting that he was a tough guy. I wanted to play that in this movie.

MS: Tell me about working with Luke Goss, who plays Captain Jack Wosick.

DL: Luke is a great guy! I loved working with him! He did a great job playing the American captain! I liked working with him a lot. He was very passionate about the film. He does his job.

MS: Tell me about working with Mickey Rourke (AJ Redding) again. I read there was improvisation in the scene between the two of you.

DL:  Yeah there was a bit of improv. He sticks to the script. He's an interesting guy. I like watching him prepare. He plays an outrageous, colorful Colonel who hires me and Luke for this mission.

There was improvisation and stuff. I think I told this other journalist. We're doing this scene, and there's this map, it's take one and we're supposed to know each other, because the characters are supposed to know each other.

He turns to me with a smile and goes, "Hey Hans, do you remember the chick you banged in Marseille?" [Laughs]

I didn't know what to do. I danced with the scene and came up with something. It didn't end up in the movie.

MS: Tell me about Ryan Little as a director.

DL: This is his World War II movie. He's very good with the subject. He has a feeling about how to shoot those movies and the equipment. I liked the movie he did, not Airborne Creed, the other one. I can't remember the name now. He did a movie about the Malmedy massacre [Saints and Soldiers]. It was really nice! I had a good feeling about him.

MS: Just like with The Expendables franchise, you're working with an ensemble cast. Is it a challenge to find the right chemistry with the other co-stars?

DL: I think it's nice. It takes a load off. If you're playing the straight lead, you're in every scene, and it's all about you. It's your arc; there's a little bit of friction there. It's okay too, but when you're doing an ensemble piece, you get the time off and then it's about the other guy. You can come up with jokes together. There's less pressure on you than when you do a solo I think.

MS: What do you want the audience to come away with after they see War Pigs?

DL: The characters are interesting. The movie's good. You'll learn something about the G.I.s from back then. Some of them weren't that well-trained before they sent into battle. It was a little haphazardly. Sometimes the Germans would break through, like in Battle of the Bulge, they would gather all the cooks and clerks, give them guns and helmets, and put them though.

In War Pigs, they're in their twenties. We have to train them quickly for this mission. We illuminate the change, we're more planned out and organized.

MS: One of my favorite movie of yours, Masters of the Universe, is now on Netflix. With the movie being released to a whole new generation of fans, do you have any behind-the-scenes anecdotes you'd like to share?

DL: Oh thank you! Wow! That's an old one! I remember it changed for me because I was this Russian, Soviet bad guy, who represents the Cold War. Now I'm supposed to be this American hero named He-Man. It was made for kids and there were He-Man dolls. There was a lot of pressure on me. After all, I only did one picture. I was a bit nervous about that.

Also what I do remember, thinking back how there was no CGI and it was really rough. I lot of it had to be on camera. In other words, when I'm flying on the disc, I was actually on a truck, with a disc on it.

We were going down Main Street 60 miles per hour. I had to jump from the window onto the disc. We had to do a lot of stunts on it. Now you would never let the actor do that. It's too dangerous!

I remember it was quite cold because my costume was a small size. I remember it was challenging in the winter. I was out there in the cold for about a month.

MS: With the rise of the superhero movies, tell me about playing The Punisher, which is one of my favorite cult classics.

DL: Thanks! Now everyone wants to do superhero movies. With the CGI, you look really good playing the hero or the villain. Back in those days, doing a superhero movie was a little risky. Playing the Punisher, it was difficult to translate the comic strip to the movies. It usually meant it was a B-movie.

Superman I guess was the exception. In Batman, the bat-suit had muscles on it. We shot it in Australia. I remember the fights being hard because they flew in real Japanese karate guys, who were competitive and didn't realize they were in a movie. They thought they were going to fight me for some reason! [Laughs]

MS: What other projects are you working on now?

DL: I finished this movie called Kindergarten Cop 2, from Universal. It's a sequel to the Arnold Schwarzenegger picture, where he's yelling at the kids a lot. I have to do a lot of the same thing. I have to deal with kids and hamsters as a kindergarten teacher. That was fun! It's a comedy! I did that and I'm working on something else. I have this project I'd also like to direct.

War Pigs arrives in select theaters, On Demand, and Digital HD on September 18.

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