Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Gardenzio Stalloneis an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is well known for his Hollywood action roles, namely boxer Rocky Balboa, the title character of the Rocky series' seven films from 1976 to 2015; soldier John Rambo from the four Rambo films, released between 1982 and 2008; and Barney Ross in the three The Expendables films from 2010 to 2014. He wrote or co-wrote most of the 14 films in all three franchises, and directed many of the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth6 July 1946
CountryUnited States of America
I'm perceived to be this solitary character, but nothing could be further from the truth.
I think I came along at an opportune time. I don't know if that would happen anymore, because the whole way of doing business in Hollywood has changed.
I started out as an actor, but I forced myself to be a writer, even though I wasn't very good at it and had never written. I don't think I ever passed an English course in my life. My first eight to 10 scripts were pretty horrendous, but I stayed at it, stayed at it, and stayed at it, until I eventually found a voice and a subject like Rocky that people were interested in.
If I'd made it right away as an actor, I would've stopped at a certain level and stayed there, probably as a character actor.
I've always boxed a certain way. But with Rocky, the character himself had to be kind of awkward. So I had to learn to fight that way.
On the sequel, you've lost the element of surprise. Usually, on the first one you may not go very, very deep into character; the second one you start to explore the character a bit more.
When I tried to play characters that strayed from who I am it ended in disaster. People didn't expect me in comedies or musicals.
Some actors are brilliant character guys. They submerge.
Clothing is the first step to building a character.
The character of Rocky was built on the idea that he was chosen to do something. That's why the first image in Rocky is the picture of Christ.
Characters I've played, they used to impact my paintings, like 80 percent of the time, and especially when I was doing an action film.
No one will hit you harder than life itself. It doesn't matter how hard you hit back. It's about how much you can take, and keep fighting, how much you can suffer and keep moving forward. That's how you win.
I think there's something about being a neophyte that's refreshing and hard to duplicate; it brings about real innovation. Innovation usually comes about through blind ignorance.
When you're an actor, you're a slave to other people's visions.