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'We were all nearly killed!': Cliffhanger star Michael Rooker reveals truth behind deadly shoot for Nineties blockbuster with Sylvester Stallone

PUBLISHED: 20:07 EST, 21 March 2014 | UPDATED: 20:07 EST, 21 March 2014

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It's considered one of the great Nineties blockbusters, but veteran American actor Michael Rooker has revealed the death-defying truth behind the making of Cliffhanger.

From nearly being electrocuted in a lighting storm to falling 11,000ft off a mountain summit, the 58-year-old said the danger was just as real once the cameras stopped rolling.

'It was crazy,' he told the MailOnline ahead of coming out to Australia in April for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo.

Veteran actor: Michael Rooker at the Captain America: Winter Soldier premiere in LA on Tuesday

Nineties hit: The actor in a scene from 1993 blockbuster Cliffhanger

'It was a real environment up in the Northern Alps in Italy and we were in real danger.'

Rooker - who played Sylvester Stallone's mountain-climbing buddy in the 1993 film - recalled one particular incident where they were stranded on a cliff in a lightning storm.

'We were literally on the edge of this plateau where there was a drop off of about 10,000ft and we could see this storm coming from miles away.

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'The decision from the crew was to stay and try and get this one last shot, then we'd get the hell out of there.

'By the time we set it up it was already too late. We were stuck in the middle of an electric storm, with lightning hitting the mountain tops all around us.

High stakes: Sylvester Stallone in a scene from Cliffhanger, which shot in the northern Italy

Kitsch classic: Rooker in a scene from Cliffhanger, which went on to make $255m at the global box-office

'The only protection was huddling together in this tent where our hair was standing on end because of the electricity.

'The air was popping all around us... they made an emergency call and had helicopters come up and get us.

'We were about to get electrocuted. Looking back on it, it was exciting and exhilarating, but at the same time we were all nearly killed.'

The film - which was nominated for three Oscars for visual effects - saw Rooker and Stallone teaming up to take down a band of armed robbers led by John Lithgow in a deadly mountain heist.

It went on to make $255m at the international box office.

Mountain man: Stallone as Gabe Walker in Cliffhanger, which was nominated for three Oscars

At the time, Rooker was best known for his breakout performance in Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer and parts in JFK and Mississippi Burning.

It was one of his first big budget features, but it was no walk in the park.

'We were working really high, upwards of 11,000ft and the air was thin,' he explained.

'We would go up slowly so we could get used to it and one of the first times we moved from 8,500ft to 10,000ft we all got really sick.

Zombie killer: Rooker as Merle from AMC's hit show The Walking Dead

'I woke up in the middle of the night with extreme altitude sickness and had to be taken back down to 8,000ft.

'The next morning it turned out I wasn't the only one who was feeling it, with the whole cast and crew having being moved down because they were so ill.'

Rooker has gone on to carve a career as a successful character actor, starring as fan favourite Merle in The Walking Dead.

He's next set to appear in Marvel's superhero blockbuster Guardians Of The Galaxy, where he'll re-team with 'good friend' director James Gunn, who he worked with previously on the films Slither and Super.