Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro are seasoned veterans in the field of boxing movies. They both teamed up again for the 2013 released movie Grudge Match. The two actors previously collaborated on the 1997 film Cop Land. The Grudge Match starred Stallone and De Niro as two retired boxers who came out of retirement to resolve their long-running rivalry with one final boxing bout.
Stallone played Henry “Razor” Sharp and De Niro plays Billy “The Kid” McDonnen in the movie. The movie explored their pasts—both personal and professional—as well as their disagreements and path to peace. However, Sylvester Stallone once revealed that he was doubtful about his participation in Grudge Match.
Sylvester Stallone was ‘doubtful‘ about Grudge Match
For years, Stallone and De Niro have engaged in friendly competition. Stallone, of course, became well-known after playing the lead part in Rocky, which won the 1976 Academy Award for best motion picture, defeating De Niro’s Taxi Driver.
This time, entering the boxing ring was much different, especially for Stallone, who claimed he first needed to loosen up a little about his concerns to sustain the Rocky image.
“I didn’t know if I was being a little too protective or precious about … if you want to call it a legacy or something that we built over the years,” he said.
“I had a great many reservations. [Robert De Niro] is relentless, don’t let that quiet demeanor fool you. I was being precious about Rocky. I was very happy with the way it ended. But Bobby just kept hammering away,” Stallone once told Empire.
He admitted to Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden that it wasn’t until De Niro himself called him that he ultimately decided to make Grudge Match.
Robert De Niro Punched Sylvester Stallone “a couple of times” While Filming Grudge Match
In the movie Grudge Match, Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro actually took hits. The Rocky Balboa actor revealed he wanted to go beyond acting in the comedy film’s boxing scene, so he let De Niro, who has won two Oscars, punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground to give the impression of a real fight.
‘He hit me a couple of times because, you know, you want to get that realism.’
“He was very feisty, he took a good shot. It was very, very hard, the training. He hit me a couple of times because, you know, you want to get that realism. But when I saw him take some falls and I took some falls I said, ‘This is getting good, this is not a joke fight.’ “
“Robert De Niro is a great actor,” Stallone writes. “He is very reserved and very intelligent — and he takes a good punch.”
However, Stallone confessed that fighting alongside De Niro was more difficult than he had anticipated because both of them were unable to perform the same stunts as when they were younger.
Source: Cheat Sheet
