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8000 auditions,,Who would you pick to play Drago?

posted 10 years ago by old-skool101
16 replies | jump to latest

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vernon Wells, Brian Thompson, Patrick Swayze, Kurt Russell, Peter Weller, Michael Biehn, David Hasselhoff, Tom Selleck, Jean-Claude Van Damme, William Sadler, Jürgen Prochnow, Johnny Depp, Kevin Dillon, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Brad Pitt, Mel Gibson, Jesse Ventura, Kiefer Sutherland, Thomas F. Wilson, Val Kilmer, Sean Bean, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Alec Baldwin, Jsu Garcia, Robert Patrick, Matt Dillon, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, Alexander Godunov, 'Kane Hodder (I)', Chris Sarandon, Keanu Reeves, Paul Satterfield, Eric Stoltz, Chuck Norris, Viggo Mortensen, Gary Sinise, Tony Goldwyn, Armand Assante, Michael Madsen, Liam Neeson and Roddy Piper auditioned to play the role as Ivan Drago.

****EDITED UPDATE**** 6/20/15

This list of names has now been deleted, and now IMDb trivia only says that 8000 people auditioned for Drago, without mentioning ANY names.... So IMDb must realized that this was *beep* when someone with a bit of sense and a bit of sway told them so.

[–] MrScary 10 years ago

I'm calling BS here. Half of these actors would NEVER EVER be considered for a RUSSIAN SUPER ATHLETE. Please site your source.

[–] old-skool101 10 years ago

look in the IMDb trivia section for this movie.

[–] BoSoxRule 10 years ago

Keanu would've been amazing.

[–] djdcowan 10 years ago

Barry Manilow

[–] djdcowan 10 years ago

Lol just saw Armand Assante on your list. That would've been brilliant... Two little Italian dudes duking it out in the ring. Although we already see them fight in Judge Dredd so whatever.

[–] jamesdavidson3 10 years ago

Dolph Lundgren!!

[–] tyrexden 9 years ago

They were both in Lords of Flatbush and then played brothers in Paradise Alley, too. I'm guessing them both in Dredd was a bit of a inside joke.

[–] Thenewnexus 9 years ago

Dolph was perfect for the role

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[–] Robbmonster 9 years ago

I'm also calling BS on most of these. Johnny Depp audiotioning to play the Russian Killing Machine??? Rubbish. Tom Cruise? Rubbish. Arnie? Rubbish. Chris Sarandon? Keanu Reeves? Kurt Russell?

Show me the audition tapes and I'll believe it.

Until then, I'm not buying.

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[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] njiuma 9 years ago

I don't know if all those names are accurate as to the actual auditioners.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, whether or not if he had actually auditioned, would have been perfect to play a tall, perfectly fit, Russian boxer with superhuman strength. Might have trumped Lundgren's performance - just being even more robotically stoic, quiet, yet punching with precision power with a monstrous shadow looming over a seeming underdog, Rocky.

That said, I agree with one of the Posters here who wrote, "Dolph was perfect for the role". Lundgren did indeed do a great job, but Arnold Schwarzenegger might have brought even more depth to the character, would have likely been more menacing, and would have appeared even more unbeatable. At the time "The Terminator" had only been out a few years and he was getting hot.

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[–] Jakethemuss 9 years ago

Arnie was too buff and hulked out to play a boxer. Ivan was portrayed as super-strong yet agile, lean and athletic. Arnie would have been unconvincing in such a role. There aren't enough drugs available for a guy to keep arms that size punching and blocking for 15 rounds.

He would have still been a better fit than Eric Stolz lol.

[–] DjokerFan 9 years ago

I'd pick Dolph Lundgren but that's just me.

[–] wantutosigh 9 years ago

Dolph Lundgren.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBYznVnNTI4 RIP Bob Probert

[–] bigpapapumpct 9 years ago

Dolph was the perfect choice. I would have never went with anyone else.