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Danny Trejo Will Not Actually Appear in Expendables After All

by Ethan Anderton
April 29, 2010
Source: AV Club

While it looks like nothing more than a throwback to insane 80's/90's action flicks mixing stars of the past and present, The Expendables certainly has some people excited. After all, how can fans of high-octane action not be excited for a film that puts Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Danny Trejo, Bruce Willis and even Arnold Schwarzenegger into one flick? Sadly, there's a bit of un-casting news as it turns out Danny Trejo doesn't actually appear in the film, and while this isn't a dealbreaker, the circumstances are kind of shitty.

In speaking to The Onion's AV Club (via The Playlist), Trejo revealed that writer, director and star Sylvester Stallone merely used him so he could raise money for the film in order to get it off the ground. Sounds like being one of the "Expendables" turned out to be a bit too much of a literal title to have in his casting. Here's what Trejo had to say about the situation and his brief thoughts on it:

"Stallone said I was in The Expendables so he could raise his money, you know what I mean? [Laughs.] Because I bring in the Latin audience. So I was in The Expendables all the way up until the time they started casting. I'm not in The Expendables. That's one of Hollywood's ploys to... how do you say it? They have this huge cast, and then all of a sudden, when it comes time to cast, the people that actually raised the money aren't in it."

Yes, there often shady dealings in order to raise money for films in Hollywood, but this is some frustrating and deceptive stuff. Sure, Trejo isn't the biggest selling point on top of the cast that is involved, but Stallone seriously couldn't figure out a way to have him appear in a film that is now without a Hispanic ass-kicker? That's some bullshit. Trejo seems to have let it roll off his back, but it doesn't sound like he's all that happy with Stallone or much of the rest of the beefcake cast: "All them guys—supplements are making them nuts." Well said, sir. It's kind of disappointing that we won't get to see Trejo kicking asses too, but we will see him go crazy in the forthcoming Grindhouse fueled bonanza Machete. Does this disappoint anyone else?

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