'I charmed Sly Stallone to become Hollywood’s best baddie’

Actor Steven Berkoff’s thirst for a pint charmed Sly Stallone and helped make the British star Hollywood’s favourite baddie. For Sly gave him his breakthrough role as villain Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop. He reveals: "When I was interviewed by Sylvester, I was led into a large office and sat in a chair facing a desk behind which sat the movie team. Stallone sat dead centre and his acolytes were spread on either side: the casting agent, assistants, producers, costume, make-up etc. "But Sly was charming. We ping-ponged compliments and when he declared how much he loved the clarity of the British actor, I had to answer that since the pubs in England close at the ridiculous time of 11pm, our hard-working theatre thespians make a swift dash to the pub, screaming out ‘a pint of lager please!’ Stallone responded, ‘now you've destroyed my illusion’. Cue laughter from the table. I was booked. A dream had come true." But, originally cast as the lead, Sly quit, following a bust up with Paramount bosses, who instead cast Eddie Murphy as loudmouth Detroit detective Axel Foley - a role that made him a global star. In his new memoir, Shouting At Night: From East End Rebel to Hollywood's Master Villain, Steven, now 89 - who has since played baddies including ego maniac Soviet army generals in Rambo: First Blood Part II and the James Bond film Octopussy - says Eddie was a joy to work with. He says: "My first scene was simple enough. I, as the now famous Victor Maitland, sat in my linen suit and questioned Axel (Murphy), who had invaded my art gallery, the elegant cover for my drugs empire. But when you do a scene with him, he really listens like he's studying you. Eddie just stares and takes it all in. I never detected any sense of star status." Eddie even lent Steven his limo on the last day shooting in Los Angeles. He says: "Each day he turned up in his stretch limo, necessary to transport his gang. He was surrounded most of the time by a group of pals from his old haunts. "One day he saw me admiring his limo. After the last shot, I received the mandatory round of applause, and when I left the studio, instead of my usual driver I was presented with Murphy's limo for the ride home. I had the driver take me to Sunset Boulevard where I wanted to catch the Joan Rivers show. The car drew up and I stepped out, real cool, in my Victor Maitland stance." Soon after Beverly Hills Cop, Steven was cast as evil Soviet Colonel Sergei Podovsky in Rambo: First Blood Part II, thanks to Sly Stallone remembering him from the Victor Maitland audition. As Podovsky, he had to torture Sly's character John Rambo, who had dared to rescue missing POWs from the Vietnam jungle. Recalling how Sly’s electrocution scenes, Steven says: "He was in a pin-up pose, strapped down to the metal springs of a broken-down bed, wires attached to his flesh so that he will reveal his contacts upon receiving a massive electric shock. But the electric current was real. "As he remains silent on each charge that goes through him, I increase the voltage - this has the effect of inducing his stomach muscles to writhe like excited snakes. Sly got rapidly used to the voltage and kept asking me to increase it, which I was glad to do. But then he had enough and we called it a day. "Stallone's body had been whittled down to pure muscle and since he carried not an ounce of fat and would be susceptible to catching a cold, the room temperature was high and everybody was dropping pints of sweat. The director, George Cosmatos, kept staring at Stallone's body as if he were bidding for it at an auction." In another scene, Steven feared he’d injured Sly, after cutting a leech from his body while Rambo was hoisted from a poisonous swamp. He says: "I took out a huge, serrated knife and sliced off one of the fake rubber leeches. As it dropped off his chest, I saw that in my keenness I had taken off some flesh and left behind a bloodied patch. I stared in horror before realising it was skilfully applied make-up!” Steven also became an unlikely peacemaker on-set, after his co-star, late Serbian-American actor Vojislav Govedarcia (who played Russian henchman Sergeant Yushin) shot his mouth off and upset Sly. He says: "Voyo loved nothing more than sounding off at night with the rest of the actors at supper. He talked about his fight scene with Stallone in a chopper, saying ‘how can he ever beat me? I'm so much stronger than him - the audience won't believe it?’ "Word got back. One morning, the phone rang. There was a lot of sacking on that movie. I jokingly asked the second assistant director, ‘am I sacked today?’, he replied, ’no, it's Voyo, your partner...he's been shouting his mouth off?’ "I dashed to Sly's trailer and said,’look, Sly, I will do my best to get him to shut it, but please don't fire him’. I knew Stallone had a secret respect for the British savoir-faire. I saw Voyo and told him to button up. I saved his job and massive salary. The irony is that Stallone eventually employed him as his bodyguard!" Another role as a Soviet baddie followed in the 1983 Roger Moore James Bond movie Octopussy. He played fanatical hardliner General Orlov. He recalls: "The set was quite fantastic. As it revolved, a giant screen revealed a map of Europe, detailing the cities the mad general is determined to unleash his nuclear missiles on. Does this remind you of anyone? "My final scene is when I make my confession to Roger, as Bond, how Russia will dominate the world. But for some reason I was growing more anxious. I had to dominate as a psychopathic lunatic.” Roger was having problems with his lines and Steven feared he was making him uncomfortable, adding: “Perhaps I made him feel ill-at-ease. Still, we managed it almost one sentence at a time and eventually it was in the can." Steven also reveals how Purple Rain singer Prince was tricky to work with, when he directed the 1986 rom-com Under The Cherry Moon. Steven says: "Prince did not like being in the room while we were shooting, so watched on a monitor. When a scene would end I'd hear the ‘click, clack, click’ of his high-heel boots as he approached. "He would say, ‘oh Steve, when you say that line, ‘She's on her way back’, it should be ‘She is on her way’ instead?’ Then he would turn on his heels and ‘click, clack, click’ away back to his monitor. The film went on to be one of the flops of the century." In his memoir, Steven also chronicles his childhood in Stepney, east London, in a working class Jewish family. His early life was shaped by wartime evacuation, a brief emigration to New York and a tough-minded local environment that fuelled his gritty theatrical style. His East End background was useful for his 1989 role as gangster George Cornell in The Krays movie, opposite Spandau Ballet brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, as Ronnie and Reggie. Cornell, an enforcer for south London’s rival Richardson gang, was shot dead in broad daylight by Ronnie Kray at The Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel on March 9, 1966. Steven remembers: "The Krays were known to all of us teenagers. They feared no-one but made sure everybody feared them." Reflecting on an extraordinary 68 year career, Steven is proud of his achievements. He says: "Did I achieve a part of my dreams? I think so, since I pulled them down from the sky and brought them to life. I cannot say I failed by any means." *Steven Berkoff's autobiography, Shouting At Night: From East End Rebel to Hollywood's Master Villain, is out now priced £19.99 by Supernova Books.