Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone talk rivalry, friendship in special interview on TV tonight, April 23

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone at Creed premiere
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone (Image credit: Todd Williamson/Getty Images)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are two of the most iconic action movie stars of all time. They dominated the big screen in the 1980s and 1990s, creating classic characters, performing incredible stunts and delivering memorable one-liners. Their position at the top of the heap created a rivalry over who was the bigger star, but it also led to a last friendship, both of which will be discussed in a TMZ special airing on Fox Tuesday, April 23, at 8 pm ET/PT.

TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons sees the tabloid news organization sit down with the two stars as they discuss their once-fierce rivalry and how that led to them not only becoming Hollywood icons but friends and brothers in arms.

This TV special is going to be taking the place of The Cleaning Lady season 3 on April 23. Fox's other Tuesday primetime staple, Alert: Missing Persons Unit season 2, is going to air in its usual 9 pm ET/PT time slot, but it is going to be a rerun rather than a new episode of the crime drama.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone started their careers in two very different spots. Schwarzenegger began as a world champion bodybuilder in the 1960s, then began transitioning to acting in the 1970s. His big break came playing Conan the Barbarian in two movies in the early 1980s and then the Terminator in James Cameron's sci-fi classic. Stallone, meanwhile, began his career in the late 1960s/early 1970s, mostly with small parts before he wrote and starred in the Best Picture winner Rocky, which shot him to international fame.

They both would go on to become fixtures in the action genre, with Schwarzenegger starring in such action classics as Commando, Predator, Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies and more, as well as expanding to comedy with movies like Twins and Kindergarten Cop. Stallone, in addition to the Rocky franchise, starred in the Rambo movies (starting with First Blood), Cliffhanger and Demolition Man. The two would eventually star alongside each other in movies like Escape Plan and The Expendables franchise.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone are both still highly active in Hollywood. Schwarzenegger recently starred in the Netflix original series Fubar (Fubar season 2 is in the works), a State Farm Super Bowl commercial and is reportedly reprising one of his most iconic roles, Conan, in The Legend of Conan. Stallone, meanwhile, currently stars in the Taylor Sheridan/Paramount Plus original series Tulsa King, which is currently shooting season 2, and most recently appeared on the big screen in The Expend4bles and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

In order to watch TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons, you need to have access to your local Fox station, which is available through a traditional pay-TV provider, a TV antenna or live TV streaming services like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.

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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.