Sylvester Stallone shaped his decade-spanning career solely from sweat and tears. His hard work landed him his breakthrough role in Rocky, a story that he wrote and played the lead. But before being Rocky, Stallone had to endure hard-hitting poverty.
The actor has severe rejections from many titles even as a background artist in movies like The Godfather, which almost shattered his big Hollywood dreams. The actor, however, was good at something involving the moviemaking process which eventually shaped his legendary career.
Sylvester Stallone’s Savior: Rocky
After facing constant rejection or getting unsatisfactory minor movie roles, Sylvester Stallone’s grapes on screenwriting helped the actor establish himself in the industry. After experimenting with a few scripts, Stallone wrote the Rocky screenplay in just three and a half days. He was offered a tempting $360,000 for the script’s rights but the actor made a brilliant choice demanding to be in the lead which went on to become one of the greatest sports dramas in the history of movies.
“I thought, ‘You know what? You’ve got this poverty thing down. You really don’t need much to live on.’ I sort of figured it out. I was in no way used to the good life. So I knew in the back of my mind that if I sell this script and it does very, very well, I’m going to jump off a building if I’m not in it.”
The Rambo star was quite determined on his move. “There’s no doubt in my mind,” he once stated.
“I’m going to be very, very upset. So this is one of those things when you just roll the dice and fly by the proverbial seat of your pants, and you just say, ‘I’ve got to try it.”
Despite all the risks involved, Stallone was confident. “I’ve just got to do it. I may be totally wrong,” he said although he believed he was going to take a lot of people “down with me, but I just believe in it.” But with the blessing of the producers of the movie, Stallone was saved from poverty. And it was just the beginning of the $1.7 billion franchise.
Sylvester Stallone Had to Sell His Dog
Revealing his hard-hitting story before the dawn of his legendary career, Stallone told Deadline that he had to sell his dog as he was unable to provide even for his life. Of course, the $360,000 was a pure temptation for the actor at the time but he came through it, yet he was far from being able to keep his beloved pet to himself. “I was pretty flat broke at that time, and really,” Stallone told Deadline. “I had nothing left. My cost 40 dollars, and I had to sell my dog because I couldn’t afford the dog food,” he added.
“Yeah, I had to sell my dog. At a 7-11. For 50 bucks. Then, when the movie happened, I tried to buy him back. The guy goes, ‘Well, I want 1500.’ I went, ‘Oh my God.’ He ended up being in the movie, Butkus. I figured, that poor dog had suffered with me in New York for five years. He deserved to be in the movie.’”
The actor further confessed that he wasn’t smart enough then to have actually figured out life but knew the fact that Rocky was the perfect opportunity and had to seize it. And he did and created the iconic character Rocky Balboa who appeared in the later movies of the franchise.
Source: Far Out Magazine
