“It’s not a series, it’s a saga”: Kurt Russell Had a Strange Defense for Joining Fast and Furious After Rejecting Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables for Being ‘Backwards’
In the dynamic world of action-packed Hollywood films, few have managed to leave a mark as indelible as Kurt Russell. From his iconic turn as Snake Plissken in Escape from New York to his epic action sequences as Stuntman Mike in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, Russell has been an influential figure in the action scene of earlier decades.
Known to be judicious with his film choices, Russell had infamously turned down Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, citing ensemble films as not his cup of tea. The actor countered on his own words when he joined the Fast and Furious franchise. His rationale behind these decisions is a bit strange.
Kurt Russell On Preferring the Fast Franchise Over The Expendables
Kurt Russell once revealed that doing The Expendables felt a bit going backward to him. And the variation between the targeted audience of the franchises’ also influenced Russell’s decision. As he told IGN:
“Yeah. I mean, I’m glad Sly’s done well with this. He’s a great person. The fellas all seem to have a good time. I’ve never seen any of them. It’s not a beat I get. It’s like looking backwards to me.”
Speaking about Fast and Furious, Russell further added:
“I like the way Vin talks about it — it’s a saga. It’s not a series, it’s a saga. I think that Paul dying is a part of that saga.”
He claimed that the fact that the film series is for a “funny” audience. He said that the fact that the film’s target audience is between the age group of 15 to 30, but can be expanded to 45 is interesting to him.
Kurt Russell Turned Down Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables
The Expendables franchise is essentially a get-together of action stars from the earlier decades of Hollywood. Sylvester Stallone’s ambitious project managed to bring a slice of nostalgia and excitement by bringing together stars like Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke among several others.
The list of greats in the action genre cannot be completed without Kurt Russell’s name on it. But he was one of the few who chose not to be part of Stallone’s films. Initially, the reason he gave for his refusal was that he was not keen on working in an ensemble cast (via Slash Film). Saying he’s
“not interested in ‘ensemble acting’ at this time.“
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Not long after, the Tombstone star took up the role of Mr. Nobody in the Fast franchise, which has an ensemble cast as one of its building blocks. Furthermore, Russell felt doing something like The Expendables is a bit “backwards”. He clearly did not have any qualms with an ensemble cast when it came to joining the Fast franchise.
Watch the Fast and Furious franchise on Prime Video and The Expendables on Max.
