Sylvester Stallone: “I am Rocky!”

There is no doubt that one of the biggest inspirational movies of all times is Rocky, the story an uneducated but good-hearted man in Philadelphia who was also a club fighter who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the scheduled contender breaks his hand.

As interesting and inspiring the Rocky Balboa story is, little is known about the story of he’s creator Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone. This story is a little longer than usual but I believe you will find it very inspirational and hope you enjoy reading it.

Stallone knew since very young that he wanted to be in the movie business, for him it was a chance not only a way to escape to a better life but also to inspire other people that they are capable to overcome unbelievable obstacles, because he felt he did that through his life and that passion is reflected in most of his movies. When he was born, Stallone was pulled up by forceps from his head causing an injury to his face, that’s why he talks (and looks) the way he does.

Stallone always wanted to be admired and inspire people so he decided to pursue an acting career going out trying to get acting jobs. Since the beginning it wasn’t easy because the way he talks, on auditions agents looked at him and said you are stupid you never going to be a star, nobody is going to listen to someone that sounds dopey and talks out of the side of his mouth and he got rejected many times. In New York, he was thrown out of the agent’s offices more than 1500 times; even there aren’t 1500 agents in New York but he had been in each office many times

Stallone once went to see an agent at 4am but the agent wouldn’t see him; he waited and stayed there overnight hoping that the next day the agent wouldn’t refuse to see him while coming to the office the next morning, and in fact that’s how he got his first job, the agent said come here! sit down! then he went through a list and out of that he gave me my first movie but it wasn’t Rocky, Stallone was in it for about 20 seconds and he did 3 movies like that and never got anything in return.

He kept going out and he found rejection everywhere to the point when he finally realized this acting thing wasn’t working, so he had to change his strategy and by the way, he was starving and couldn’t even afford to have heat at home. “My wife didn’t understand that at all, we had awful fights and it was freezing” – S. Stallone. His wife was losing patience and was screaming every day asking him to get a job, but he knew that a job might have seduced him into losing his hunger to really make it in the movie business. He knew from deep inside that the only way to succeed was to keep acting as his only choice, even if he had to burn all the bridges, he was afraid of getting caught up in that job rhythm and that was going to make him feel ok with his life making his dreams gradually disappear. “I wanted to keep that hunger, that hunger was the only thing I thought was my advantage.” – S. Stallone

One day Stallone went to a New York public library not to study but just because it was the only warm place he could find in the middle of a cold New York winter. While sitting on a bench he noticed that someone had left a book there he grabbed it and saw it was a book with poems of Edgar Alan Poe. That book made Stallone think about how he can touch other people and not to worry about himself too much, Poe made him decide to become a writer.

He tried to write a bunch of screen plays but nothing worked, He was so broke that didn’t even have $50 bucks, until finally he sold a script called “Paradise Alley” for 100 bucks, a movie that he made many years later.  “It felt like a lot of money, I was thrilled and I thought I was on my way up.” – S. Stallone. But that was nothing, he kept trying, and trying, until he got so broke that had no other chance than to sell his wife jewelry, “That is one of the things in life you should never do, it was the end of our marriage, and she hated me so much. Now we were so broke, no food no money.” – S. Stallone.

The one thing Stallone loved most in the world was his dog, because the animal gave him unconditional love no matter what, but he was so broke that couldn’t even feed his dog, so one day he went to a liquor store, “I stood outside the store trying to sell my dog to strangers, that was the lowest day in my life; I sold my best friend on earth.” – S. Stallone.

He tried to sell the dog for 50 bucks but finally a guy cut him a deal and bought his dog for 25 dollars. “I walked away from there and I cried so hard, that was by far the worst thing that ever happened in my life.” – S. Stallone

Then, 2 weeks later he was watching a fight between Mohammad Ali and Webner, a white guy that was getting blotched but just kept on going and while watching that part of the fight; bam! he got an idea. “As soon as the fight ended I started writing, I wrote for 20 straight hours, I didn’t sleep, and I wrote the entire movie in 20 hours right there bam! I saw the fight and wrote the movie. At the end I was shaking, I was so excited, I really knew why and what I wanted, just like if I had just created a magic formula, I took the action, now is time to deliver.” – S. Stallone

So he went out and tried to sell his script to agents but they said this is predictable, stupid ,sappy; by then he wrote down all the things they said and later he red all those comments at Oscars when we won. “It felt so good, the greatest revenge is massive success” – S. Stallone

He kept trying to sell it but no one bought it, he was starving until finally one guy red the script and believed in the script, he loved it and offered him 125,000 dollars, Stallone was so excited and said “Ok but just one thing, I got to be the star in it.” The agent and his people laugh and said what do you talking about you are a writer, to what he replied “I’m an actor, this is my story and I am Rocky and I got to play it, I got to be the starring role”. They said there is no way we are going to pay 125,000 dollars and take a nobody, we are not going to throw our money away, and we need a star. They wanted Ryan O’Neill to play Rocky.

“No! That guy is not Rocky, I am Rocky and I got to star this movie.” said Stallone. The agent said take it or leave it!, and Stallone left the room, with no money, totally broke, walking away from 125,000 dollars because he knew what was ahead of him and he was committed to it.

Few weeks later the agent called him back and offer 250,000 dollars not to star in his own movie, and he turned them down again, they came down to offer 325,000 and he said not without me, and they said no. Finally, they agree but gave him just 35,000 dollars saying if this is going to happen you are taking the risk with us, and bottom line we don’t think it will work but at least we are not going to risk too much money on you.

Not too long after agreeing on that deal they ended up spending a million dollars in making the movie that made 200 million dollars.

So he got his 35,000 dollars and the first thing he did wasn’t going out party and celebrate, instead he went back to the liquor store, the same store where he sold his best friend and kept going there for three straight days hoping to find the man who bought his dog, and on the third day he saw the guy walking by and Stallone talked to him “Sir, do you remember me? I sold you my dog about a month and a half, by that time I was broke and I was starving, he is my best friend I’m sure you love him too but I got to have him back, please I’m begging you I want to buy back my dog, I now you paid me 25 bucks, but I want to give you a 100.” said Stallone. The man said no way he is my dog now, you can’t buy him back. Stallone kept offering more money, offered 500 dollars for the dog, he said no way, “Come on! I’ll give you a thousand dollars for my dog.” The guy said there is no money on earth that is going to get this dog for you! then Stallone took it very seriously and kept offering more and more. “I got my dog back for 15 thousand dollars and gave him a part in my movie, the guy is in Rocky”.

If you’ve seen the dog in Rocky named “Buttkiss” that is Stallone’s real dog, he bought him back and put him in the movie. The rest is history.

I leave you now with two videos extracted from Rocky V (the last movie of the series) that capture the essence of Rocky’s spirit. In the first, Rocky is trying to get his license renewed for an exhibition fight. The second is a conversation (more of a life lesson) between him and his son about that same fight. If you liked Rocky’s previous movies I’ll recommend you watch this one.

I hope you enjoy it!!!