S1: On today's KPBS Midday Edition , we're having the conversations shaping San Diego. I'm Jade Hindman , keeping you informed and inspired while making you think. A new book explores the life of Pope Leo Bean. Artist and trailblazer Salvador Roberto Torres talks about his work bridging activism with art. Plus , Mondo talks with Dolph Lundgren. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Getting.
S2: Getting.
S1: A new book traces the life journey of the first American pope , from humble beginnings in working class Chicago to becoming leader of the Catholic Church as Pope Leo the 14th. It's called American Pope Leo the 14th road from the south side of Chicago to Vatican City. I spoke with author Scott Detrow , host of NPR's All Things Considered , along with NPR's Daniel Burke , who is also NPR's senior editor of religion and spirituality , last month. Here's that conversation , Scott. The genesis of this book goes back to May 8th , 2025. You were covering the papal conclave. Can you take us back to that time? And what you remember when the famous smoke came out of the chimney?
S3: And then when the smoke came out? This book almost didn't happen because I was actually not where I was supposed to be. The smoke was kind of interestingly timed where we all thought we were clear. I said to Daniel and the other people there , I've got some time to go get some water , right? And everyone said , yeah , yeah , yeah , sure. So I'm about on the other side of the square and suddenly I hear the loudest cheer I've ever heard in my life. And like I've , I've got , I've got I've got some big sporting events , you know , and this was the loudest , deepest roar I've ever heard. And I just said , oh , no. And then the producer I was , I was working with , and I just ran as fast as we could , and we leapt over a fence to get back to the microphone in time and get on the air. But then , you know , this remarkable moment happened , and Daniel and I were looking at each other and we couldn't believe it. They announced that that the Pope is is Robert Prevost from Chicago , and suddenly an American is pope. And , you know , as both people who grew up in the Catholic Church who have covered in different ways , we just thought that would never happen. And here suddenly we were covering it live on the radio , and it was the most exciting feeling I can remember as a reporter. And right after that , we realized there's a broader story here , because Robert Prevost had climbed the ranks of the church , but in a way where he wasn't a public figure , he wasn't a famous person. He suddenly being viewed by billions of people around the world who are listening to his every word. But people didn't know his full backstory. And pretty quickly the two of us decided , well , we could tell it. And we started reporting , making phone calls and looking through documents.
S1: And that moment when you heard that roar , it must have been like both this , this feeling of excitement and in your stomach sinking a bit. Yes.
S3: Yes. Yes to both. Yes. And then they and then we we had thought the Vatican broadcast would give us a real time English translation into , into our broadcast , and then it just didn't happen. So we're looking around what to do. And luckily , Sylvia Poggioli , who you know , the iconic longtime NPR Rome correspondent , just starts translating in real time , standing there for us and telling us what the Pope was saying. So it was it was a pretty high adrenaline two hours of my life.
S1: Oh , I can imagine. Daniel , in the book , you include a quote from a Saint Augustine sermon that in part says , A lame man limping along the road goes further than a sprinter running off it. What does that tell us about Pope Leo and his journey to becoming pope. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. So that's a quote from Saint Augustine. As you said , he introduced himself to the world on May 8th , 2025 as a son of Saint Augustine. And he has been part of the Order of Saint Augustine basically , since he was in high school. And so this is a really , really important figure to him. And he's quoted that passage. I found the speeches that he gave when he was head of the Augustinian order. He would quote that passage all the time. And I think to him , it really is about spiritual progress. You have to keep going. You cannot sit down. You can't sit on the sidelines , you can't take a quarter off. You need to keep trying to help people. You need to keep praying. You need to keep God in your mind. And that's the mindset that he has. Like the metaphor that we really think applies to his life is this idea of the road. Because first of all , he loves cars and he loves travel. But the second , that's how he sees the spiritual life. It's something where you have to keep going and going and going. You can't ever give up. And so when we saw that quote and we saw that he himself is quoted that quite a few times we thought that's perfect for the American Pope. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. And as someone who you all mentioned before , you know , has not come up through the church in the spotlight. Um , what was something , what was something that you learned about him that maybe came as a surprise or that you think , um , you know , makes him stand out as a pope compared to the others? We've we've had.
S3: A couple of things that I would say. One is the way that , uh , being in charge of , you know , a times impoverished diocese in northern Peru. He was he's a he's a bishop. He's in charge of the diocese , but he , he he's such a hands on manager in a way that if he were a bishop in the United States , in Europe , in other parts of the world , he wouldn't quite have the same thing. He is , um , when there is flooding in the community. He pulls up in a pickup truck filled with food to help distribute it. Somebody who worked with said , I've never seen a bishop in a truck before. You know , when , um , when the car breaks down , the church car breaks down. He's fixing it , looking at YouTube videos when they run out of Palm's on Palm Sunday , he grabs a machete and climbs into a palm tree and starts chopping down palms. It's just like a hands on style of leadership. And I think the other thing that we really heard a lot about , and it was a constant , no matter what decade it was in his life , Daniel , is how he approached decision making and how he listened before he talked.
S4: Yeah , going back to high school , people said that he was the male Mona Lisa because it was impossible to get an opinion out of him. But he was a really good listener , and he would let everyone speak their mind around the table. And then he would come to a decision. And the decision was not some kind of like watered down the lowest common denominator thing. It would be a tough decision , but since everyone felt heard , they were on board and we saw this honestly , from the time he was the editor of his yearbook in high school , all the way up to the Cardinal in the highest reaches of the Vatican. His personality is remarkably consistent. He is a leader , but he is a leader who listens to other people. And it's remarkable to see that that that is now the leader of the Catholic Church. He's already bringing in laypeople having this meeting in the fall and a couple of weeks where he is going to do the same thing. And it's remarkable since he's 14 and now he's 71 , and he's still operating kind of the same way. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And , you know , so much of that goes back to like how he grew up on the South Side of Chicago at a time when you. All right , the churches defined the neighborhoods. So tell tell me more about the world Robert grew up in.
S3: He grew up in Dalton , Illinois , which is right on the line of Chicago. In fact , the church he went to , Saint Mary of the assumption , is like it's about ten feet into Chicago. You know , the the road that they parked their cars on. That was the line between Dalton and Chicago. It's one of the first suburbs as , uh , as his dad and other veterans come back from World War Two and start families. The you know , at the time , at the time , it was almost entirely white. Now the town is almost entirely black because Chicago , like many communities in the country , is very racially segregated. It is a community where every house , these tiny houses that he and his his five person family lived in is filled with kids. The kids are riding their bikes down the street , playing in the yard , playing pickup baseball. Little League wasn't like an organized thing when he was a kid. You just kind of figured it out yourself. He would climb on the on on the garage in the backyard at one time , fell through the roof as he was playing. But he and his brothers , they went to they went to the parish school , as did everybody else in their neighborhood. And it was the center of their world , you know , the 60s of this tumultuous time. As we all know , I asked a lot of the classmates. I asked his brother , did the feeling of the 60s ever kind of permeate your school? And they said , no. 1 or 2 occasions , maybe it did , but by and large , they were living in this parish bubble , you know , as late as 1969 , right before he goes off to , uh , goes off to high school. Yeah. Um , the the parish is organizing a polka dance that night. It doesn't feel like late 60s. It's the summer of Woodstock , and they're having a polka dance at Saint Mary's.
S1: Oh my gosh. Well , I mean , and you write extensively about this , about how , you know , the area at that time was defined by race and ethnicity. His own family's ethnic makeup is not so easily defined. Tell me about that. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. And this this became a global headline in the days after he became pope , and a lot of people in his family were like , we didn't we didn't know this full story. Uh , his on his father's side. His grandfather is an immigrant from Italy. His grandmother is an immigrant from France. You know , Pope Leo just came back from this , this triumphant trip to France. And I was wondering , what would his grandmother think who came from Normandy? Um , but on his mother's side of the family. The Martinez family , they're mixed race. There's there's black , there's white , there's mixed race. There are ancestors , family who were slaves. There are ancestors in his family who were slave owners , their ancestors in his family who were slaves , who were freed and then who bought slaves themselves. And , there's two interesting historical moments where the Martinez family kind of adapts in a way that so many others did. The first is in the middle of the Civil War. His great grandparents would have to go and prove that they were free and show documents at City Hall saying , we are free. We're not we're not runaway slaves. And at a certain point , they flee Louisiana and they go to Haiti to sit out the Civil War because they don't know which side is going to prevail. And that's where his grandfather is born. Then , decades later , his grandfather and his grandmother are among the very first of the Great Migration , making their way from the south to the north. Uh , when when Joseph and Louise Martinez are in New Orleans , they're at times categorized as black in the census when they arrive in Chicago. They're categorized as white. And that's the way the family stays from that point forward until this was discovered after he became pope. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Interesting. Um , it's got your book covers , a I mean , it's a turbulent era for the Catholic Church , including scandals involving widespread sexual abuse by clergy. How do you think Robert was able to retain his faith and commitment to the church despite those revelations? Yeah.
S3: Yeah. And this is this is Daniel did a lot of , um , did a lot of the reporting around this period of time because he becomes the head of the Augustinian order in fall of 2001 , actually right around 911. Yeah , he's and he's suddenly this , this global leader in the church. And Daniel , you report you covered this at the time. Yeah. As a religion reporter. And you saw how Prévost handled it. And I think the best way to say is that he was a little slow to grasp how serious the problem was.
S4: He was so he was his 2002 , and he was just named the leader of the Augustinian order. This global order stretching across the country , across the world , actually. And but he had not had much experience of the issue itself. He had been improved for a lot of that time. And then he was in Rome. And so the American Augustinians came to him in 2002 , and they said , hey , we we have a problem here. We have a priest that is not abiding by the rules and we need to remove him from the priesthood. And , um , he did not immediately agree to that. However , he said , let me think about it , let me do some research. And he did that. And about a weekend later , he came back and he said , okay , I get it. Now you can go ahead and make the decision. So I think there was a learning curve with him , as there were with a lot of Catholic leaders. Right? Him in particular in that one instance , it was a really quick learning curve. It was a very short amount of time before he was able to navigate his way through that. I do think that for him , he's got a really spiritual vision of the church. He knows it's made out of people. He knows people make mistakes. He's a very forgiving guy. But at the same time , his his idea of Jesus is idea of the church is not something that's going to change based on on anything really. It's such a deep part of who he is. But he is. He has dealt with a lot of tough situations , and as we get into in the book , he's dealt with a lot of tough situations that did test his and many other people's faith.
S1: That was my conversation with Scott Detrow , host of NPR's All Things Considered , and Daniel Burke , NPR senior editor of Religion and Spirituality. Their new book , American Pope Leo The 14th Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City , is out now. Still to come. Artist and trailblazer Salvador Roberto Torres talks about his work bridging activism with art. KPBS Midday Edition returned after the break. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition I'm Jade Hindman. On April 22nd , 1970 , bulldozers and construction crews rolled into the space under the Coronado Bridge. The city said it was building a highway patrol station. Abandoning their promise to build a community park there. Community members and activists put their bodies on the line in protest. Occupying the space for 12 days straight and they won. The city and state agreed to designate the area a community park , but that was just the beginning. It took years of dedication by artists and community members to transform Chicano Park into the work of art we know today. Artists like Salvador Roberto Torres , he's one of the muralists that brought Chicano Park to life , and a founder of Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park. KPBS Andrew Bowen sat down with Salvador earlier this week to hear about his life's work. As part of our series on Hispanic Heritage Month. The acclaimed muralist stepped into our studio with harmonica and guitar at the ready. Here's that conversation.
S4: So I want to.
S5: Start talking about before the creation of Chicano Park , when you were growing up in Barrio Logan , Logan Heights. What do you remember about your upbringing? What was the neighborhood like.
S6: Sporadic in terms of the various cultures that were living there? But primarily there were a lot of Mexican families , Italian families. And so , um , the cannery was important to all of us because this was the major tuna industry of the West Coast , the tuna cannery. And when the tuna cannery moved , uh , we had a different environment. Totally.
S5: And I read that you went to art school in Oakland. And when you came back to San Diego , your childhood home had been demolished for the creation of Interstate five. Can you tell me about The creation of the building of that freeway and how it impacted the neighborhood.
S6: I must confess that we were still living. I was still living in , in in the home that we had at 2011 Logan Avenue. And the freeway was conceived as an important element. We were attempting to have it directed down to Harbor Drive , because Harbor Drive was a very important thoroughfare , so that was important to us , but it was never conceived that way. It was conceived to be right down the heart of the community. So the tragedy of seeing your , your , your neighbor's homes tore up and destroyed. And so that was a great impact. I think the most important part about it was to remain here in San Diego and to endure this change. This was a very dramatic change of having a freeway come right through your community. Then , with the coming of the Coronado Bridge , the pillars were important to hold up the bridge. So one of the pillars was conceived right where we lived , so we had to move. But I think that the the concept of a of a bridge is important to all of us because it , it reflects something that from we go from one point to another.
S5: So let's talk about Chicano Park. It , you know , is a space many people in San Diego know and love before that park was created. You had a vision for it. Can you describe that vision?
S6: I think Chicano Park has many , many important Aspects of it. First and foremost is the use , the creative use of the excess land made into a park that would accommodate families and and youth. The second part of it is it was a place where we could recluse , we could contemplate , be quiet. The third one was , of course , my concept of painting the columns on the on the Coronado Bridge. And so I had to make some serious , serious studies of the columns at all periods of time. Because as you live around the Coronado Bridge , you see the sun goes up and over and as the sun moves , the columns become almost like a symphonic play of lights and darks , and it was these lights and darks that will make your mural. So I tried to transfer this ideal to the youth and they still haven't quite arrived at it. But I think after I'm long gone and some other artists will continue , the process will have a masterpiece.
S5: So let's talk more about the painting of the murals. Can you describe how that started and what it was like starting that journey of actually creating art on this piece of infrastructure that had really damaged the community in a lot of ways.
S6: That is one of the most unique aspects of our lives to express ourselves with a pencil or a chalk spray paint. All of these were being expressed , but there was no fine art yet at this. During the there in this early period. So the fine arts become more active and more aware as I introduce the area with other artists that didn't live in the area , but they were very excited about painting murals. So I think that the important part about it is the learning process that's important , the importance of light and shadow and the play of light and shadow. If you paint a mural and then all of a sudden you see this strong light cutting across it with a shadow , and they're not aware of that. If they are , they're not doing anything about it. But I think it's important , I think that we should work with the lights. It's almost like a crystal ball with various facets. And when you can understand the columns and the play of lights and darks and shadows and also the visuals of looking at various columns together , it's important. So I started experimenting with mirrors , big mirrors , and I would catch the light and I could actually begin drawing with the mirrors by making the lights. So the police saw this and they they were very upset about it because they thought I would blind them , the motorists and things. And I tried to explain to them that that was not my intention , that I'm studying the volumetric aspects of the columns. So that period went on where they confiscated my mirrors twice. And it wasn't until a writer from the San Francisco Bay area came Beth Caufield , a very excellent writer , and she started writing about the , uh , the discovery that I had made in an artistic and and creative way. So she rescued me twice and had my mirrors returned to me. And but the police swore they were going to stop me , and I had no intentions of hurting anybody. I had no intentions of blinding anybody. I know the power of the sunlight. If you have it in your face , I know that. So that was not my intention whatsoever. So they confiscated them twice. My mirrors.
S5: What you're describing with the natural sunlight and how you experience that space of Chicano Park outside. It really distinguishes Chicano Park from a traditional museum where you're looking at art and there's no sunlight , no angles or anything. Can you describe how you wanted people to feel when they enter Chicano Park looking at these murals?
S6: First of all , we have to consider the themes , very important themes that we did not learn or incidents or historical events that we did not learn in the grammar school or junior high school or high school , or even into the college levels. About the Mexican history of the Mexican Revolution , which was very important to all of us because of the actual changes that took place. So there was a lot of focus into the the realities of the organizing something like this to make it happen correctly.
S5: Do you have a favorite mural in Chicano Park.
S6: Yes , it's the whole bridge. It's all one piece to me. It's all one piece with many different melodies and songs , or poetic thoughts or aggressive ideals , or history of Mexico and history of here. So it's all a drama. It's a very powerful , powerful drama. As a matter of fact , I even toot to it.
S5: I love those little musical interludes. So I want to talk about the Centro Cultural de la Raza. You were one of the founders of that organization in Balboa Park , and you were part of this artist group that transformed the space , which used to be a water tank , into the building , that it is now a cultural and artistic center of the Chicano community. What was that process of developing that space. Like for you.
S6: It begins when I was a child of about ten and 11. We used to sell newspapers there. Those were two water tanks. They were water tanks at that time. And there was a an underground passage that went under the and came up to the Navy Hospital. So we would sell newspapers there. So that was familiar with me. But when it came time to work on my thesis here at San Diego State , and I needed a place to work , the Ford building was allowed for me to work. There was already it was abandoned , completely abandoned. There was a magnificent mural that you'll see there that goes all the way around the building. There was some conflict Conflicted arose in the Ford building and between one group of people that wanted to take it over and the other group that just wanted to be artists and and develop their artwork and develop a printing press or a printing program. And , and because the Ford building during this time was totally empty , nothing was in it. I remember one day I was sweeping and the door was left open , and somebody poked his head and he says , hey , that's great that you're doing this. It looks wonderful. Our family owned it and I was sort of shocked , you know , and I thought , wow , that's part of the Ford family.
S5: How would you describe San Diego's attitude towards arts or Chicano art in this era? In the 1970s , when you were creating the park and the Centro?
S6: I think the main thing about that period is the learning process. San Diego had never had any really fine art going. There were some fine artists , but they were mostly restricted to the Balboa Park area or there. But this was a community , and never before had there ever been anything like that in the community. So that was important to me that we as artists learned to respect the subject matter that we're working with. Learn to respect the columns for their dignity as architectural features. But my my failure was to teach the the young artists at that time the value of the sun and how the sun changes everything , and how the sun will cut right across a a mural with light and dark.
S5: You've brought up the younger generation a couple of times. What is your message to younger artists and activists in San Diego? What do you hope they learn?
S6: We have learned Espanol esta bien. Es importante cu Los Estudiantes de cualquier dar se den cuenta cu tenemos un arte muy fino muy fuerte y es importante. Qué esos Estudiantes Estudiantes y mejorar en su oeuvre para cu ellos tengan un una palabra. It's what I'm saying is that art is like like making words or telling stories.
S5: You brought your guitar with you today , and I'm wondering if you would be willing to play something for us.
S6: Well , I'll scratch on it.
S5: A great way to end this interview. Thank you so much , Salvador.
S6: Very good.
S1: That was Salvador Roberto Torres speaking with KPBS Andrew Bowen. Salvador is an acclaimed Chicano muralist and one of the creators of Chicano Park , and a founder of Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park. Up next , the life behind Dolph Lundgren s action movie character , including an encounter with Andy Warhol and a photo that apparently sent burglars running. KPBS Midday Edition returned after the break. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman in Rocky Ford. Dolph Lundgren played a boxer whose physical strength made him a formidable opponent for decades. Later , a new documentary , Dolph Unbreakable , looks at the person behind that screen image. KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando spoke with Lundgren last month about his life and career.
S7: Dolph Lundgren speaks multiple languages , holds a master's degree in chemical engineering , was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT , and is a skilled martial artist who won multiple European Championships in 1985. His then girlfriend , Grace Jones , was cast as the muscle to Christopher Hawkins , villain in the James Bond film A view to a kill , May day.
S8: I provide you with a drink.
S7: And that led to Lundgren getting his first film role. But his second film , Rocky four , also released in 1985 , is what shot him to fame. He played the brutal Soviet boxer Ivan Drago opposite Sylvester Stallone's underdog Rocky Balboa.
S9: I must break you.
S7: Lundgren would go on to play such iconic characters as He-Man in Masters of the universe. And the Marvel character Frank Castle in the first film adaptation of The Punisher.
S9: Come on , God , answer me. If years. I'm asking you why? Why are the innocent dead and the guilty alive? Where is justice? Where is punishment? Or have you already answered? Have you already said to the world , here is justice. Here is punishment here In me.
S7: In 2015 , he opened up about himself for a TEDx talk on healing and forgiveness.
S10: I like to tell your story. It's about a little boy who grew up in Sweden in the 60s and 70s. His dad was his tall , good looking army officer. His mom was this pretty but shy linguist. He had a brother and two sisters , and they lived in a suburb of Stockholm. And that little boy was me. I think I remember the first time my dad hit me.
S7: London's life and career are now the subject of the new documentary , Dolph Unbreakable.
S11: There's no one like him. Period. End of story.
S12: That's a rare thing. A guy that size that can move like that.
S9: This guy has.
S11: This star power.
S13: What does he not have?
S11: I just knew that everyone would hate him because he was too perfect.
S9: I've had a great life. I've led , like , five lifetimes in one.
S7: I began my interview with Dolph Lundgren by asking how this documentary , Dolph Unbreakable came about. What made him feel like he wanted to partake in something like this at this particular time in his career?
S9: Yeah , I.
S10: Was approached by these documentary filmmakers. Let's see. It's seven years ago now. Six years ago now. I was right before Covid , we started shooting. Um , Covid came in. But , you know , look. Uh , so six years ago , I was 61 , 62. And you get a certain age where you kind of , you know , it's natural to look back at your life and , and , you know , being an actor , you're , you know , you're always on film anyways , so why not do documentary? I didn't realize it was going to take six years and be a lot. I had to come in as a producer and be caught it and rework it , and I was going to get a cancer diagnosis , and that was going to change everything. I , I didn't know any of that , but I did feel like I wanted to share myself , which I've done in 100 some movies , share myself with my fans in the public.
S11: Really goes by the blink of an eye. All the people you meet in a lifetime , relationships , all the friendships. You can always tell us. All the actors. We're the guys who are limping. I feel like the universe has given me a chance to have another adventure. It's another day in Hollywood. Life should fight. You can't let it break you.
S14: And is there something about yourself that maybe people don't know that you hope they take away from this documentary?
S10: Well , there's some things that a lot of people don't know about my education , about martial arts , about perhaps my private life , you can assure me. May have heard about it. Maybe not , but I think I guess the fact that I'm. I would say I'm more of a spiritual person , maybe more of a searcher , a different kind of person than my characters that I play on screen. My characters are usually kind of tough , man. Stoic , you know , carries some kind of weapon usually. And they're involved in some action , you know , uh , situation. Whereas of course , as a person , I'm a little more of a searcher , I guess.
S14: Did you feel that going through this documentary after also having gone through cancer treatment and all this? Was it somehow therapeutic also?
S10: It was very therapeutic. Uh , I also had a book offer , and I , I was writing an autobiography as well. So I had two things I was juggling. The book just came out , actually. And , uh , so I was juggling both. And they're both autobiographical. They're both therapeutic. The documentary is , you know , in many ways , because the interviews , the fact that I have to rewatch medical footage and me getting treatments and stuff , which , you know , it was almost unreal to see it , you know , after the fact in the book , you're , you know , it's a little different medium. You're sitting there. It's more the author's medium. You're sitting there and you're trying to put , put down a few sentences to describe something , you know , and you have to so it can be more concise than when you speak. So they were both therapeutic and uh , and I'm really glad I did both of them really.
S14: One of the things that I didn't know about , and I thought was interesting , is you talked about meeting Andy Warhol , and I was just curious what kind of an experience that was , because you were pretty young when that happened , and he's such an iconic figure. So what do you remember of that?
S10: Well , I have a few things. The first time I met him , I was in a club and with Grace. And she ran off somewhere. And I was 26 , I guess , at 27. And some little guy with a camera comes up and walks up to me and says , you know , I want to take a picture. And and then he says , what are you famous for? I remember , and I said , nothing as far as I know. And he's like , well , I'll put you in my magazine. And then Ray shows up. Hi , Andy. And it was Andy Warhol. Of course I knew who he was. I didn't recognize him. But then I got to meet him many times at the factory. Grace was up there doing. He was doing portraits of her for interview magazine. We also did a feature together for interview , so he was there for that , and he was just a very nice , down to earth guy , a very smart. I used to walk around in the back of the factory because , you know , Grace was doing other things. He was photographer , photographing her or something , and I , and I know we saw these. We had all these artwork by all these artworks back there that he. It was like a storage area. And I remember one thing I saw. I haven't seen it since , but it was , uh , he I guess he must have been in Germany , in Bavaria or something at a dinner like in the 60s. And , uh , he he took the the table when it was when the meal was done. I guess he must have. I don't know how he did it , but it was the whole table was just. It was it was , um , encapsulated in plastic. Plastic. And it was he sucked all the air out of it. So the food was there already and the , the bills was there and , and and he , you know , the ashtrays and he just cut it into squares like this. He had about ten of those squares and he signed it. Andy Warhol right. So and I just remember as a kid I thought , wow , that's pretty smart. Like , you know , I , I understood already that people would buy that because it's like , you kind of stop time. And I the receipt had the had the date on it anyway. So um and then um I was a bit and then I was saddened. It was only a few years later where Grace called me and said , Andy passed away , and I think he was only in his late 40s or something. And he when he died , maybe 50 , early 50s. And he was he went in for some routine surgery and died , uh , like 80 maybe 1989 or something like that. And Grace went to the funeral , but I was we'd broken up by then. I was in California , but I remember I was , um , yeah , it was it was a sad day. I remember that because I liked him , though.
S14: Uh , you mentioned your education that people may not know about , but I have to say , when my son was a surly teenager , we got to bond over your action films , which he loved. And he was very impressed that he found out that you had , like , a PhD. You spoke multiple languages. You really knew martial arts , and I promised I would ask to find out if this was true or not. But he said he read that somebody broke into your house , and as soon as they saw the picture of you left. I'm wondering if that actually is true.
S10: It's partially true. Yeah. I was in Spain. I had a house. I lived in Spain for married , lived in Spain for a number of years , and , um , yeah , I was gone on a film set and these guys in ski masks break in and they , um , put all the staff somewhere. And my kids were there and one of my daughters was asleep. But anyway , they opened the safes and then , uh , well , they saw the picture and they said something in Spanish , like bad Spanish. I think there was a mr. Europe. Uh , we're big fans of this guy , and , uh , they had they had the He-Man sword. They played with it. And then they said to my wife , uh , okay , you can have a few things back. And they she picked and watch and she took some , some of the jewelry back that they were going to steal. And then they left anyway. Sorry. So it was a certain. I got a little mileage out of it , and I do send some other guys down to find these guys , but they were going on there.
S14: Well , one of the films that we watch every year of yours is I Come in Peace because it's part of our 12 Days of Action Christmas.
S11: Houston , Texas. It's Christmas. Someone special is coming to town. And.
S12: And.
S11: It's not Santa Claus.
S14: I'm wondering if you have any memories of that particular film.
S10: You know , I have very fond memories of that picture. It was shot in Houston , Texas , and , um , it had this , uh , really great script. Uh , I think it was the first script that this writer , David Cobb , he wrote in writing Jurassic Park and , and Mission Impossible and some huge movies. He , he wrote this when he was really young , and it was a kind of a far out script about a I. It's a , um , like an alien drug dealer comes to Earth , followed by an alien cop.
S15: Three well-armed men have their throats cut before they can even draw their weapons. Who could possibly move that fast? Aliens.
S11: Aliens.
S10: And this drug dealer is trying to his harvesting opiates out of human brains. So he kills people and sticks something in their head. And. And then this , you know , alien cop comes along to catch him , and the cop gets killed. And then I played as human cop. He has to take over and find this guy. The aliens speaks in his weird kind of voice. And every time he he's about to kill somebody , he says , I come in peace. For some reason.
S16: I come in peace.
S11: Dolph Lundgren , you go in peace. I come in peace.
S10: Somebody smoked a lot of weed or something and came up with the story. And in the original , the the alien wears his black cowboy outfit like Yul Brynner and the Magnificent Seven. I don't know who came up with that , but I think the producers thought it's a little too much , so they dressed him. I'd really invite. I liked that movie , had great practical stunts. I mean , a lot of explosions. It's all practical. And we have this East German Olympic champion place the alien. And you have to do all these stunts himself because you couldn't double him. He was too big. So he did all these. There's one stunt. When he runs , he jumps from one car to the next ten cars in a row while these explosions chase him. And I remember watching that guy's going to get killed. We all thought this guy was never going to make it , and he decided to do it himself , and he pulled it off somehow. So it's it's a fantastic movie. I like it a lot.
S14: And do you still enjoy acting? Do you have other projects coming up right now? Is that still something that you want to keep pursuing?
S10: Yeah , I like it a lot. Actually , I took a break because I have this vodka company I started with my wife. I had to take over as CEO. Was a lot of work last year or so. And so now I'm getting back into acting. I have a movie I'm doing in November. I have another one. I'm looking at another script. That's kind of a fun script , actually. Um , I don't know if it'll work out , but it has some really , really cool directors on it. And I have two other projects I'm developing as a producer. One I would be I'll be acting in one of them , but , uh , no , I'm excited. It's it's , uh , the the movie business and acting seemed quite. It was it was a bit of a vacation as opposed to running a being entrepreneur and running a startup. That's a lot of work. So I like to get back into acting and I think I , you know , now when I get a bit older , I can give the character something else that I didn't have before when I was younger. You know.
S1: That was actor Dolph Lundgren speaking with KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando. The documentary Dolph Unbreakable is available to stream. And his autobiography. Fights Worth Fighting , Finding Strength and Struggle , was released last month. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
