Rocky IV actor Dolph Lundgren is opening up about the physical and mental torment he experienced after being diagnosed with cancer.
“When I was deep into the cancer treatments and thinking about the possibility of killing myself, my brother, Johan, was going to help me, because I didn’t know what kind of condition I might be in once I made that decision,” Lundgren, 68, wrote in his new memoir, Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle, out on Tuesday, September 22. “I could be in really bad shape by then and not capable of completing the suicide on my own. There are countries in Europe, like Switzerland, that permit legal suicide for people who are terminally ill, but I still might have needed someone there to help me.”
He continued, “Johan and I talked about it, but once I met Dr. Drakaki and began feeling a little better, it never went any further than that.”
Lundgren was first diagnosed with a kidney tumor in 2015, which he had removed at the time. In 2020, more tumors had been discovered by his medical team. In November 2024, the actor shared the good news that he was finally cancer-free.
In his deeply personal book, Lundgren opens up about his upbringing in Sweden, his rise from a chemical engineering student to a martial arts champion and his eventual transformation into an international movie star.
Part of the book also explores his health struggles, which included a doctor delivering a misdiagnosis.
“[One doctor] had me do another biopsy and then asked her pathologist to evaluate the results, and we also requested the slides from my initial biopsy for comparison,” Lundgren wrote in one chapter. “What she found was that my ‘kidney cancer’ cells had a mutation that is fairly common in lung cancer. That’s why the medications I had been given for the past two years weren’t working.”
Readers will also be able to hear from Lundgren’s supportive wife, Emma Krokdal, who stayed by his side for every twist and turn.
“I still remember when I first learned Dolph had cancer because I was there with him throughout it the whole time,” she said. “They were going to do a biopsy in Sweden, but he decided not to, so we flew back to LA because it would be safer to do it there, or so we thought.”
Learn more about Lundgren’s journey in the new book Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle available now.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
