Stallone: 'Expendables stars were difficult'

Sylvester Stallone has confessed to having difficulty keeping the stars of his new movie The Expendables under control.

The 64-year-old revealed to Virgin Media that directing the action hero ensemble, which included Hollywood hard men Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke, was not an easy task, as many of the performers were reluctant to break out of their comfort zones.

Stallone said: "Was it tough? Yes. You get these strong men who have a certain way of doing things on a film, and you have to get them to give that up.

"Like Jason [Statham] in this film is totally different than in anything he's ever done. Dolph Lundgren is totally different."

Directing difficulties aside, the Rambo actor added that he was immensely proud of the all-star cast that he had managed to assemble.

"The thing was to find certain personalities and put them all together like a dream team," he explained.

"I wanted to do a film a bit like The Magnificent Seven or The Dirty Dozen. One of those that only comes along once in a while."

Stallone previously revealed that he is planning to expand the lineup for a proposed sequel to the big-budget blockbuster, which topped the US box office upon its release last week.