Geri-action hero back at the top

Actor Dolph Lundgren is starring in The Expendables II. Picture: AFP/ Getty

AT THE height of his fame as a 1980s action star, Dolph Lundgren famously boasted he could "beat Mike Tyson".

Older and perhaps a little wiser, Lundgren now backs away from the claim. A little.

"I don't know where somebody would have got that from," the 54-year-old says, the faint hint of a Swedish accent peeking out from behind his American tones. "Especially in boxing. I mean, look - in a street fight, that's a different story."

The fact The Expendables 2 star thinks he has a chance outside the ring with a man who bites off his opponent's ears inside it speaks volumes about his legendary ego.

But then again, at 195cm tall with more than 100kg of muscle, he's still an intimidating man. In 2009, three masked burglars broke into his home, tied up and threatened his ex-wife Anette. They turned and fled after spotting Lundgren's photo on the wall.

Lundgren is in the midst of a flurry of activity, with 10 movies in various stages of production including another Universal Soldier film and a zombie movie called Battle of the Damned. "Zombies, robots and me, I call it," he laughs. "There was more action than I've done in any movie since the '80s."

He's also hosting a new cable TV series called Race to the Scene, where teams recreate stunts from such movies as Die Hard and Terminator. "I don't have to dive out of the window," he says. "I'm just talking to the people diving out the window."

This fresh rush of product stems from Sylvester Stallone's decision to cast him in the 2010 "geri-action" ensemble film The Expendables.

Stallone actually made the Swedish actor a star in 1985, casting him in Rocky IV. Lungren went on to star in such films as Masters of the Universe, The Punisher and the Universal Soldier franchise, but after moving to Spain in the 1990s with his wife and two daughters, he all but disappeared from mainstream view despite making endless movies with titles such as Defendor, Missionary Man and Command Performance.

"I was kind of stuck in DVD movies," he says. "Then suddenly, out of the blue (Stallone) calls me and says 'Ehhhh, Dolph, we got this script we want you to check out.' That was Expendables 1. For me it was a big comeback because I hadn't been in a theatrical release for almost 10 years."

One of the first films he made afterwards was Stash House, a low-budget thriller about a couple who buy a home and discover the walls are full of drugs. Lundgren plays an ageing killer who wants to get out of the business.

"It's the first time I've played a more mature action guy," he says. "In Expendables, OK, it's about a bunch of older guys kicking ass. This is more like an old guy who wants to retire."