This weekend, a new Masters of the Universe arrives in movie theaters across the world. Nicholas Galitzine plays Prince Adam, AKA He-Man, making him the second actor to take up the power sword in live-action. Because, in addition to voice actors from the 1983 cartoon (like John Erwin), the only other actor who played He-Man in live action before Galitzine was the legendary Dolph Lundgren. But when did Lundgren get his start?
Other than He-Man in 1987, fans probably think about Rocky IV, and Lundgren’s famous role as Ivan Drago in that 1985 classic. But where he got his start in movies, and how, might surprise you.
Dolph Lundgren’s First Movie Role Was Thanks to James Bond — & Grace Jones
But Lundgren’s first movie was actually connected to a totally different action hero. In 1985, Lundgren made his big screen debut in the final Roger Moore-led James Bond movie, A View to a Kill. In the film, Lundgren played a KGB assassin by the name of Venz, though that character’s name isn’t spoken on screen.
He’s most clearly visible when the KGB makes contact with the movie’s lead bad guy, Max Zorin, played by the incomparable Christopher Walken. And Lundgren’s connection to the other major antagonist in the film, May Day, as played by Grace Jones, is how he got the part. Jones suggested that Lundgren would be good for the part because at the time, in the 1980s, Lundgren and Jones had dated. Previous to that, Jones had even introduced Lundgren to Arnold Schwarzenegger, thanks to her connection with Schwarzenegger on the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer.
Dolph Lundgren’s Masters of the Universe Cameo, Explained
In the new Masters of the Universe film — out in theaters now — Lundgren makes a brief, but pivotal cameo early in the movie. When Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine) is working out at the gym, he asks Lundgren for advice for “a new guy.” This is a meta-fictional inside joke, connected to the fact that Lundgren was the man who played the live-action He-Man in 1987. In the cameo, Lundgren’s character tells Adam (the future He-Man) that you need to “back yourself.” This becomes a big deal later in the movie, and is part of Adam’s rallying cry to the warriors on Eternia.
Lundgren’s cameo in Masters of the Universe ends with him wishing Adam “good journey,” which is a phrase that comes from the 1987 movie, not from the 1983 cartoon. In that film, Lundgren’s He-Man says that on Eternia, nobody says “goodbye” but instead “good journey.”
