Betting on himself was an easy gamble for Sylvester Stallone, but he had no clue how hard it was going to be to play “Rocky.” Now, there’s a biopic about that epic journey and Deco’s getting inside the ring to get the scoop.
Who would’ve thunk Sylvester Stallone can act and become a worldwide hit as “Rocky.”
P.J. Byrne [as Irwin Winkler]: “You wrote this in three and half days?”
Anthony Ippolito [as Sylvester Stallone]: “Yeah.”
Toby Kebbell [as Robert Chartoff]: “This is freakin’ good.”
Anthony Ippolito [as Sylvester Stallone]: “Here’s the thing, I play Rocky.”
He certainly did. But it wasn’t easy.
“I Play Rocky” tells a true story about Sly’s rise to fame and his determination to play the boxer himself.
Anthony Ippolito: “The underdog story behind one of the best underdog movies ever made.”
Anthony Ippolito stars as the young Stallone.
Anthony Ippolito: “When we meet him, he’s about 26-years-old. He’s trying to make it as an actor in New York, and it’s very difficult for him.”
And the actor did get advice from Sly himself.
Anthony Ippolito: “When I spoke to Stallone, one of the things he communicated was how lonely this journey was for him at this point of his life. And thankfully, he did have someone there championing him.”
Anthony Ippolito [as Sylvester Stallone]: “I thought you said you can box.”
Stephan James [as Carl Weathers]: “I lied… I’m an actor goddammit.”
Co-star Stephan James didn’t know all the real life struggles in making the iconic film.
Stephan James: “It shocked me and surprised me to learn some of the things he had to do, whether you look at selling his dog, turning down all kinds of money when he had nothing.”
Toby Kebbell [as Robert Chartoff]: “You parking cars for Christ’s sake, Sylvester.”
Anthony Ippolito [as Sylvester Stallone]: “No.”
Toby Kebbell [as Robert Chartoff]: “175.”
Tracy Letts [as Sandy Maddox]: “Go to 200.”
Toby Kebbell [as Robert Chartoff]: “No? “
Stephan James: “Not only did he want to get this made, he wanted to get it made on his terms in his own way, and I think that double whammie, again, is one of the greatest stories, I think, in cinema.”
Kiki Seto plays Talia Shire in the flick, and for her, the moral of “Rocky” is…
Kiki Seto: “Life is this one beautiful experiment, and we owe it to ourselves to listen to that voice inside of us and do that thing that scares us… You cannot fail or succeed unless you try.”
Anthony Ippolito [as Sylvester Stallone]: “If I’m not willing to live up to what I wrote, then what’s the point? …So do you believe in me or not?”
