Considering how long Sylvester Stallone has been in the action landscape, the actor has sustained his fair share of hits. But the thing that made him regret the most was challenging the late icon, Kirk Douglas. Long before Sylvester Stallone found his footing through classics like Rocky, which pushed him to the top of the action realm, Douglas was already an established action hero.
And being a big fan of the Spartacus star, Stallone eventually got his time to shine and star alongside his childhood hero in 1991’s Oscar. But despite being at the top of his game, the Rambo star wasn’t ready for what was about to come.
Provoking Kirk Douglas backfired for Sylvester Stallone
Even though Kirk Douglas was out of his prime by the time he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in 1991’s Oscar, Stallone would soon regret underestimating the Spartacus actor. Considering the Rocky star was at the peak of his game by the time the 90s arrived, Stallone jokingly asked the icon to hit him as hard as he wants during the scene, which involved Douglas slapping Stallone. But the Creed star soon regretted his decision to provoke the icon, as the slap stuck with the actor to date, as Stallone claimed “I learned the hard way: never spar with Spartacus”. He recalled,
“I said, ‘Look, Kirk. Ever since I made Rocky, you’ve been dying to take a shot at me. I tell you what? Go for it. I can take it. Let me have your best… I was joking about having his best, but Kirk wasn’t. He gave me back hand, right hand, everything. Then the director said, ‘that’s beautiful, let’s do another one’. I was saying, ‘are you crazy? I’m suffering brain damage over here.’”
Although the sound of the slap might still ring in Stallone’s ears, his respect for the late icon never diminished, and he never backed away from expressing his admiration for Kirk Douglas.
Kirk Douglas’ influence pushed Sylvester Stallone into the acting realm
Among all the Hollywood icons that he has grown up watching, Kirk Douglas had the biggest impact on a young Sylvester Stallone. The Rocky Balboa star credited the late icon as one of the major reasons that contributed to his desire to make it big in showbiz. And Stallone once again expressed his admiration for the Spartacus star, following his demise at the age of 103. Stallone stated,
“The last great giant of my cinema heroes has passed on to Infinite glory. Amazing artist! The likes of which we will never ever see again”
Following in Kirk Douglas’ path, Sylvester Stallone too has become an icon through several classics in his illustrious career and has cemented his name as one of the very best in the action landscape.
Oscar is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: IMDb
