Sylvester Stallone, the all-powerful man who made The Rocky franchise earn billions at the box office, felt that he could take on a proper boxing punch. What was supposed to be a normal auditioning process for Rocky III turned into a nightmare for the actor.
During the casting process for Rocky III, Stallone wanted originality in the opposing boxer and hence he chose real boxing champions for the role. Earnie Shavers, a boxer who auditioned for the role punched Sylvester Stallone so hard in the liver that he had to run straight to the men’s room and throw up!
When Sylvester Stallone Got Punched In The Liver
The actor has been given many titles throughout his Hollywood career. He has been renowned worldwide as Rocky Balboa when he wrote and portrayed the character of Balboa in the Rocky franchise that he created from scratch.
Requiring originality, when the franchise developed into something much bigger, Stallone wanted actual boxers to portray pivotal roles in the movie. Hence, a tedious casting process for the role of James “Clubber” Lang. Although Mr. T was cast in the role, Sylvester Stallone recalled an incident wherein he was punched in the gut so hard that he had to run and throw up in the men’s room.
Earnie Shavers, the American professional boxer also auditioned for the role of Clubber. As per Frederick V. Romano’s book The Boxing Filmography, Sylvester Stallone and Earnie Shavers came face to face for the auditions. Although the boxer was landing soft blows on Stallone, the actor shouted “C’mon Earnie, show me something real,” and that is when the real punch landed.
Shavers’ was known for his killer right-hand jab. Naturally, Sylvester Stallone received a crushing blow on his liver which nearly killed the actor and made him throw up.
“That nearly killed me,” said Stallone. “I went straight to the men’s room and threw up.”
In the end, Earnie Shavers was not chosen for the role not because of the pain but because of his voice since the casting director did not find it intimidating enough. Although 76 years of age, the Rambo: First Blood actor is still going strong and creating new series and movies for audiences around the world.
Sylvester Stallone Will Star In Never Too Old to Die
As per the latest reports, Stallone is all set to star in and produce an upcoming project titled Never Too Old to Die. Joining alongside Amazon Studios, the project is based on Brian Otting’s script of the same name and boasts an interesting murder-mystery take on the Cold War assassin living in an old-age retirement home.
The upcoming project has been recently announced and hence is in the pre-production stage of development. As of yet, there has been no release date announced for the project but the audiences are eagerly waiting to see the man in action once more.
Source: Looper
