Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables franchise brought together some of the biggest action stars of all time, but there was one notable name missing from the lineup: Steven Seagal. The Under Siege star has claimed that he turned down an opportunity to appear in the third installment, but according to Stallone, that’s not quite how things went down. In fact, he says the exact opposite happened.
Did Steven Seagal Turn Down The Expendables?
Stallone recently appeared on The Rest is Entertainment podcast, and when host Marina Hyde mentioned that Seagal had turned down a role in The Expendables, Stallone immediately rolled his eyes, saying, “Please.“
“Let’s just say he was not invited to that party,” Stallone said, before laughing and adding, “My god. Really? He turned us down? How about I tell you he was begging to be in the show. Begging.“
Stallone seemed genuinely baffled by Seagal’s version of events, asking, “Why? Why lie like that?“
Still, Stallone insisted there was no bad blood between them, although he certainly hinted at some history. “I got nothing against Steven. We’ve had our moments,” he said, giving Hyde a knowing look that suggested there was plenty more he could say. “He had a real interesting thing going and then he took his life in that direction. And I don’t even know if he does action films anymore. I think he lives in Russia.“
When Hyde mentioned seeing a Seagal movie in which the actor managed to fight someone without even getting out of his chair, Stallone couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve got to try that.“
So Many Action Stars, Even Without Seagal
Seagal may have missed out on the action, but The Expendables certainly wasn’t lacking in star power. Across four movies, the franchise assembled an impressive collection of action legends, with Stallone leading the charge as Barney Ross alongside Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Chuck Norris, Scott Adkins, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Randy Couture, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and plenty more.
As for Seagal, much of his output over the past two decades has consisted of direct-to-video action movies, few of which have come close to matching the films that launched his career. He hasn’t appeared in a movie since 2019, but he’s set to make his return with Order of the Dragon, which doesn’t have a release date yet.
Would you have liked to see Steven Seagal join Stallone and company in The Expendables, or was the franchise better off without him? Let us know in the comments!
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