Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger ''really disliked each other intensely for 20 years.''

The Hollywood tough guys - who star alongside one another in new action thriller 'Escape Plan' - think their two decades long rivalry helped shape their careers and provided them with the drive to become two of the biggest action stars of all time.

Speaking on the red carpet of the premiere of 'Escape Plan' in New York City on Tuesday (15.10.13), Stallone said: ''[We] really disliked each other intensely for 20 years. It goes to show you, a good enemy is hard to find. Eventually you sort of appreciate [them]. Maybe the reason we were so competitive was it made us get to where we are.''

Stallone, 67, and Schwarzenegger, 66, played a number of pranks on one another while they filmed at one of the US NASA buildings.

One of the pair's best jokes led to them being strip-searched by security guards at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration building.

Stallone said: ''We worked on a NASA base, and I call the gate and go, 'There is some suspicious stuff going on in a black van' ... they literally strip-searched him (Schwarzenegger), and then he got me back and I got strip-searched. [Arnold] is constantly goofy.''