Often when you hear kids on a playground describing their dads, you catch declarations like ,”Well my dad is the strongest man on earth. Well my dad is the smartest.” If you’re lucky enough to have Dolph Lundgren as a father, both statements are pretty close to the truth. And what bragging rights!

But let’s back up. If you’ve seen Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky IV, you’d know Lundgren as Rocky’s spiky-haired nemesis, Ivan Drago. His character wanted the win just as much as our Philadelphia-born underdog. But the movie wasn’t called “Ivan,” so he was deemed the villain. (Though to be fair, the character was pretty ruthless.)

Over the years, Lundgren would become iconic for these types of roles, appearing in nearly 100 films to date. But before he became a certified movie star, he was a trained martial artist, specifically a black belt in Kyokushin karate. Even before that, he had multiple degrees in chemical engineering.

After just a few moments into his chat with Upworthy, it’s clear that Lundgren has a thoughtful vulnerability when it comes to discussing how he got where he is today, his career and his children. What’s even more refreshing is his willingness to express kindness toward his younger self.

Upworthy: Who are you rooting for in the World Cup? We must know.

Lundgren: (Laughs) “I mean, Sweden, of course. I grew up in Sweden. My wife is from Norway, so I have to root for them a little bit. I like Argentina, too, somehow. I mean, I just like them as a team. Of course, then I have the USA because —I’m American now. So, I don’t really root for anybody. Once it gets a little closer to quarterfinals, then by maybe I will see which team I like.”

Upworthy: That’s a very diplomatic answer!

Lundgren: “Thank you!”

Upworthy : With your acting career spanning so many decades, were there any roles that you played that were the most like you? Was there a part that you had where you felt like, “I’m playing myself”?

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Lundgren: “I think it’s a moving target because I’ve changed over the years and so have some of the parts I’ve played. Like when I first was ‘discovered’ was in a Rocky movie. I played a Soviet fighter (Ivan Drago), and obviously I’d been a fighter a few years before. I was the European kickboxing champion. I was a very innocent and kind of a tough guy who was very lost in the in the big world of Hollywood.

And that character I played was very much like that. He was kind of used by the Soviet system. He was a tough guy, but he he felt that he was a bit lost as well. So, you know, just as an example, I played that character. And then many years later, I played that character again. And now, he’s a father. I had a hard relationship with my father. And now, I was able to sort of play my dad being very hard on his son. So, it was very personal to me, that part in Creed II.”

Upworthy: Yes, I’d imagine!

Lundgren: “Then I was able, in the movie, to actually have a sort of a happy ending,........

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