Dolph Lundgren spent decades playing one of Hollywood’s toughest men — but the “Rocky IV” star is now revealing the terrifying real-life fight that nearly took everything from him.
The 68-year-old action legend becomes visibly emotional in the new documentary “Dolph: Unbreakable,” which chronicles his years-long cancer battle and the moment doctors gave him a devastating prognosis.
At one point, Lundgren wasn’t even sure he would live long enough to see the documentary released.
“They came to me back in 2020 during COVID, and we started shooting footage,” Lundgren told Entertainment Weekly.
But everything changed after he received a kidney cancer diagnosis.
“I didn’t tell the documentary team about it for a while, but it wasn’t looking too good,” he said. “So, in 2021, I told them that maybe we should focus a little bit on that because I may not be around for the premiere of this thing.”
The frightening diagnosis completely transformed the movie.
Instead of simply looking back at Lundgren’s nearly 100-film career, the documentary began following the “Expendables” star through what became the biggest fight of his life.
Lundgren said his wife, Emma Krokdal, 30, even recorded footage while he was hospitalized because outside cameras were not allowed during the COVID era.
“What it symbolizes are the fights I’ve had in my whole life, framed by the big battle I had over four years with kidney cancer,” he explained.
The actor revealed in 2023 that he had quietly been battling cancer for years. Doctors eventually told him he may have just two or three years to live as the disease became more aggressive.
But Lundgren refused to give up.
In 2024, he delivered the news fans had been hoping for: He was cancer-free.
Now the towering actor who terrified audiences as Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in 1985’s “Rocky IV” admits surviving the ordeal has left him forever changed.
“It feels very satisfying and wonderful,” Lundgren said of being alive to watch “Unbreakable” finally reach audiences.
He admitted that even after surviving cancer, the emotional toll did not simply disappear.
Lundgren said he has undergone what he described as “survivorship therapy,” comparing the psychological aftermath to a soldier returning home from war.
“You faced your own mortality,” he said.
His therapists offered him an analogy that stuck with him.
Most people know death will eventually come, Lundgren explained, but rarely spend much time thinking about it. Cancer patients, however, have effectively seen the danger coming straight toward them.
“Once you’ve had cancer, you’ve seen the bus,” he recalled being told. “You saw the color of the bus, and you saw the number of it.”
The documentary also shows a surprisingly vulnerable side of the muscle-bound star.
Lundgren revealed that beneath his tough exterior, he has struggled with painful emotions since childhood.
“I had a problem with my dad, went through some abuse, and I found martial arts, which is the way to express myself and feel strong,” he said.
Acting later became another form of therapy.
For years, Lundgren said he imagined himself going out “like a Viking, in a blaze of glory.”
Cancer changed that mindset.
He now sees himself as an “older warrior” who can use his experiences to help other people — and believes showing vulnerability can require more strength than simply acting tough.
“Men aren’t supposed to be emotional; we are supposed to just soldier on, no matter what happens to us, but men are damaged, too,” Lundgren said.
Some of Hollywood’s other most famous action heroes appear in the documentary, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren’s longtime “Rocky” co-star Sylvester Stallone.
Lundgren revealed that Stallone became emotional after learning about his diagnosis.
The two men had long shared what Lundgren called a “tough-guy kind of camaraderie,” but the cancer scare changed their friendship.
Lundgren remembered being in a Beverly Hills store the day after revealing the diagnosis when Stallone suddenly called him.
The “Rocky” legend was crying.
“He’s in tears,” Lundgren recalled. “It was like, whoa. I was just in shock.”
The two have since grown much closer.
“I think those guys are softies too, like me,” Lundgren joked.
After surviving cancer, Lundgren says he is no longer interested in pushing himself the way he once did.
He is preparing to release an autobiography, “Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle,” and hopes the next chapter of his life will be about helping younger people find strength and direction.
“I feel a little bit like that now: leaving another life behind, and I have a new life now,” Lundgren said.
And after coming terrifyingly close to losing it, he says he finally appreciates that life — and himself — more than ever.
“I’m kinder to myself than I was before,” Lundgren said. “I don’t push myself as much, and that makes me appreciate life more.”
“Dolph: Unbreakable” premieres Oct. 6 on VOD and digital platforms.
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