“It’s Like Looking Back”: Fast & Furious Legend Kurt Russell Explains Why He Turned Down The Expendables – Film News

He’s one of the 80s action heroes who was noticeably absent from The Expendables series. In fact, Sylvester Stallone asked Russell for this, but for good reason he preferred the franchise starring Vin Diesel.

With The Expendables, the first big gathering of action legends hit theaters in 2010. For his $80 million testosterone smash, director and lead actor Sylvester Stallone brought together almost everyone who was a big name in their genre in the last 40 years: from Jason Statham to Dolph Lundgren to Mickey Rourke, from Steve Austin to Jet Li to Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the following parts, several more stars were added, including Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Liam Hemsworth, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Tony Jaa.

It can be assumed that most of the action film actors who are missing from the Expendables franchise were at least solicited – Sigourney Weaver was said to be one of the few women to join the group, but Sylvester Stallone was rejected.

“It wasn’t written by John Carpenter”: Why Kurt Russell refused to star in this saga

Steven Seagal also clearly rejected the franchise, and one other person who was conspicuously missing was not interested in The Expendables: Kurt Russell, who genre fans know particularly as Snake in John Carpenter’s dystopian classic Escape from New York and the sequel, Escape from Los Angeles, and who fought side by side with Stallone in Tango & Cash – The Avengers in 1989.

Many were surprised when Russell declared that he didn’t want to be part of the Expendables universe – but he joined the Fast & Furious family a few years later (in the franchise’s seventh feature, Fast & Furious 7, released in 2015). Russell explained this decision to IGN: “I’ve never seen any of the films [Os Mercenários]”said the 73-year-old actor. “It’s not a shock, I understand. For me it’s like looking back.”

Although action stars from the younger generation also appear in The Expendables films, the franchise initially appealed mainly to the nostalgia of older lovers of the genre – something Russell apparently has little use for. The star of The Hateful Eight explains his preference for Fast & Furious as follows:

“To me, there’s something mysterious about it – and it’s for a fun audience, you know? […] I think it’s for people between 15 and 45, and that’s what interests me. I like the way Vin [Diesel] talk about it – it’s a saga. It’s not a series, it’s a saga.”

By the way, Vin Diesel would have prevented the villain of The Expendables, Jean-Claude Van Damme, from joining the cast of The Fast and the Furious.

Stay up to date with news about films and series and receive exclusive opportunities. Listen to OdeioCinema on Spotify or on your favorite audio platform, Join our WhatsApp Channel and be a Card Adorer!