Sylvester Stallone breaks neck

Jan 6, 2010, 10:22 GMT

Sylvester Stallone broke his neck filming his new movie.

The actor suffered the serious injury while shooting a fight scene with former WWE wrestler Steve Austin for 'The Expendables', and had to have major surgery.

He said: "Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other's a*s, one guy tougher than the next. No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy.

"Actually, my fight with Stone Cold Steve Austin was so vicious that I ended up getting a hairline fracture in my neck. I'm not joking. I haven't told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation afterwards. I now have a metal plate in my neck."

This is not the first injury the 63-year-old star has suffered while making a movie.

While making 'Rocky IV' in 1985 a boxing scene with Dolph Lundgren - who also appears in 'The Expendables' - got so out of hand, Stallone almost died after being punched in the head and chest.

He explained to FHM magazine: "Dolph Lundgren and I always went for it. I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling. At one point, he hit me so hard on the top of the head I felt my spine compress. He then hit me with an almighty uppercut.

"That night my chest and heart started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room. I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died.

"After that, I was like, 'Dolph, it's only a movie, bro.' "

Stallone, Lundgren and Austin also star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke in 'The Expendables' - about a crack military squad that is assembled to overthrow a South American dictator.