Top 84 Quotes & Sayings by Dolph Lundgren

My problem is that people get intimidated by someone big and beautiful like me. They hate to think I can be smart as well.

There are a lot of great athletes who stop working out, and they get out of shape like everybody else in their 30s and 40s.

I try to keep the martial arts up. It's a good thing, not just physically but also for your mind.

I do a little bit of yoga-style meditation. Relaxing and breathing even just one minute a day makes a big difference.

When 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.

Jackie Chan, I've known him, he's a great guy. I know he's very watchable and fun. He's perfect, actually.

Everybody's life has some mythical quality. You struggle against obstacles, you fight to get to a higher level and there are great loves.

When I got cast in 'Rocky IV,' I had never seen a film camera before. And here I was in this boxing movie.

Having bodyguards is just part of being famous, I think.

When I started studying acting in New York, I didn't plan to be an action hero. I just wanted to learn acting because I felt it was something I needed to try to do for myself, to express something, my inner pain, or something I couldn't get out.

I wanted to become an engineer, or get a masters in business. But I had the opportunity to do films when I was about 25 and it was a great way to express myself.

I 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.

I used to play drums when I was a kid, play the trombone.

I've actually always been into suits. But I never really wore them, I guess because I was too young and it didn't feel right.

Nicolas Cage is a great actor and he's done some good action movies too.

Your 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.

I think mortality makes you live a fuller existence. When I was a kid I was scared of death, and maybe that's what made me desperate to get the most out of life.

Hollywood is great for entertaining people, it's a wonderful business but it's make-believe, you must remember that. That's one of the most important things to remember and the distinction in your own life, otherwise people get lost in their own fame, and it makes them unhappy.

At least once a week, I try to have one day where I have nothing planned so I can get up and just go back to bed and lay around and recharge my batteries.

My sensei was a British karate champion named Brian Fitkin. He was my mentor and because I had a hard relationship with my dad, he became a father figure to me.

I think by planning an exercise regime, your diet follows to some extent.

As 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.

The interesting thing about TV drama that's kind of nice is, I'm just an actor. I'm doing my role.

I would think that the drumstick is probably pretty good. Because you can put that anywhere. If you are a strong guy, you can put it in the throat, the nose, the mouth, the ear. It's also easily concealed. The guitar is pretty good, but you have to break it. And that's pretty difficult.

In my career, whether it's a big or a small movie, when I've worked on something for a long time, like [Ivan] Drago in Rocky IV, they start to take on a life of their own.

I got good grades in school, but I'm not sure if I'm smart or if it just means I can study. I've never taken one of those IQ tests, and I don't want to. It's so pointless. As long as you enjoy life and have fun and you're healthy and happy, that's what matters.

I've never had a good line. Well, maybe 'I must break you'.

I was this Swedish kid who came over here to study engineering, but I got into movies, and suddenly I'm in this 'Rocky' picture with Sylvester Stallone. And then the movie comes out, and it's a big hit, and I'm famous. Like, world famous. I wasn't thinking of ruling Hollywood; I was thinking of just trying to make it to the next day, trying to figure out what the hell happened.

Working with Jean-Claude is a lot of fun. Because he's a great actor who also happens to be a fighter. That combination doesn't usually come together anymore. Usually, you have to fight the stunt double and then act against the actor. In his case, you are fighting with a real guy. It takes a minute to get used to that. Because it doesn't happen any more.

I 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.

In the normal life of an actor or director, running around, there's not much time to go to church. But there's other ways to be spiritual, too.

I'd already rehearsed it [ Don't Kill It script ] for the first time it was supposed to happen and the second time. That was a blessing in disguise because the character [Jebediah Woodley] grew a little bit in me.

I like the old school heavy metal bands like AC/DC and Aeromith. I like that type of music. As the director, I tried to influence the type of music the bands in the movie would play.

I know what its like to direct. You become a more considerate actor. After you have directed, you understand what is going on. You can't help but think of the material as a director. You do come up with suggestions. You come up with shortcuts that you weren't aware of before. You try to be helpful to the director if he has a lot on his hands.

You get a bigger paycheck if you are the hero. There is something good about it.

I 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.

As you get older, it's important to have goals. When you're a kid you have them, but other people can set them for you, such as your parents, your school... so, as you get older it's nice to have your own goals, which don't have to do with being more famous, or being in bigger movies, or making more money. Those things kind of corrupt your soul.

Movies are a powerful medium. People think you are your character. I've had plenty of people who think I'm Drago. They don't know about the chemical engineering part of my personality. They don't know about the geek part of my personality.

I've drank more beer and pissed more blood and banged more women than all you numb nuts put together!

Film is about what you are thinking. It's about what's inside.

Karate has helped me lots, otherwise I might have got lost in substance abuse or something like the things a lot of other people do.

I think that people are going to find more interest in the human condition, especially with them being weaned on so much reality television. They want character driven stuff along with real violence. Cage fighting is very popular with the kids right now. They see and know what one punch can do to someone's face. You can't give someone five hundred punches in a film anymore.

My dad was in the Swedish armed forces, he was always reading up on different weapons from the Americans and Soviets. When I was a kid, I was in bed looking at his books, reading about the Red Army. So I was very aware of it. I had an interest in military matters ever since.

It was fun to talk too much [as Jebediah Woodley], to keep running your mouth whether the other characters want to hear it or not. That's part of what made this guy fun.

I think we are affected so much by mythical stories and biblical stories, our society being based on the Bible - at least the old society is based on biblical terms and laws - that there's more of it in art than people realize. Sometimes it comes to the surface, but sometimes it's below the surface, but certainly, it does influence some of my movies.

Sports became a way for me to find my personality and identity in life. I had a lot of problems as a young kid like we all do with my own confidence, trying to grow up, and become a man and whatnot. Sports helped me get there. It helped me get my role in Rocky IV. It has helped me ever since in my movies and dealing with a lot of hard times between pictures and my life. I would say it's the one thing that's kept me going over the years.

People like to lay their whole life, and all of their own secrets out in front of the world. They make money off of it, and find satisfaction that way. I personally don't believe in that. I think it can be hurtful to yourself and those around you.

Because he's a character who's looking for his own identity, [He-Man is] an interesting role for an actor.

On the one hand, you have these huge budget films that cost millions of dollars. They are effects driven, they don't have well known actors in them, and they are making money. Well, some of them are. One the other hand, you have Stallone and Statham, and guys like DeNiro and Pacino, and Costner, who are all trying to make movies about real people. They are interested in character driven projects.

I suppose I will try to enjoy my life now while I have it. Who knows what's going to happen in the future?

I like being the villian. I don't know if it has to do with my personality. You get to have a lot more fun as a villian. You don't have to stick to the rules. You can be a lot crazier. You can go off the rails.

Life is stranger than fiction. It's nice to have stuff that people don't know about. And it helps when you read a bad review. You can go, "This guy doesn't have me figured out." There's more mystery to you than they understand.

I train about four or five times a week. I guess I am addicted to it. I also do a lot of martial arts. More than I have done in awhile. I like to go back to martial arts because it makes me feel good.

I'm not going to freeze my body. One life is enough for me. Some people take this gamble. That someone will be able to bring them back in the future. I'm not going to do it.

I never came with a conscious plan to replace anyone else. Stallone does feel that way. He is a real tough guy in real life, and he gets to act that out. If you meet him and work with him, he is what he is. He is a guy that works out every day.

I mean there's still also an element of the audience looking for role models. In my day, when I started, if you were an action hero, you were a little bit of a role model like the person.

It takes nine months for a baby to develop, it takes nine months to develop a character.

One day you'll understand the sheer awesomeness that is me.

No one can believe I might have a brain. Because I'm really tall, I'm really blonde, I have big muscles, and kill people for a living. There you go. If anybody's going to be assumed to be stupid, it's me. I don't know what my IQ score is, but I did study for five years at college. And I'm proud of my chemical engineering degree. I haven't done anything with it, but it's a card up your sleeve for later in life. It's nice to have, just in case.

I prefer to channel my problems and inner demons through a character. Another persona. That protects me and my family. I can get my frustrations out that way.