“I didn’t want him”: Indiana Jones 5 Director Straight Up Rejected Sylvester Stallone for $63 Million Movie Because of His ‘Tough Guy’ Personality

Sylvester Stallone has done an incredible job in building a formidable persona in the Hollywood industry all thanks to his blockbuster career. Given that he gained international recognition with his Rocky series, breaking the tough-guy persona would have been a challenge for him.

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However, there is an interesting story on how his very personality led him to face a straightaway rejection when he received the opportunity to work with Indiana Jones 5 director, James Mangold.

James Mangold Was Not At All Interested in Working With Sylvester Stallone

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James Mangold is widely recognized for his direction skills in projects like Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma, two Wolverine films in the X-Men franchise, and Indiana Jones 5. He was also in charge of helming the 1997 project, Cop Land. 

In an interview with The Playlist to talk about his then-newly Blu-ray released Cop Land, the former opened up about how he was reluctant to cast Sylvester Stallone. The reason was nothing but his extravagant ‘Sly’ persona that he built over the years in his acting career.

“I didn’t want him,” he shared.

He stated that he wanted a ‘vulnerable’ person for the role but he didn’t see the quality in the actor.

“When he was first brought up to me, I was like, ‘Please God no!’ My whole perception of Sly at that point was, and he’s a friend and he would understand, but it was like he’d made this series of slightly-less than his best tentpole movies that weren’t very taxing for him, and he was just kind of an indestructible force in one picture after another. And I was looking to cast a vulnerable guy who was soft, who can’t quite pull the trigger – and I’m getting Judge Dredd?”

However, he eventually decided to change his mind by working with the Rocky actor when the latter had to abide by some ground rules he set for the film.

James Mangold’s Conditions for Sylvester Stallone to Work in Cop Land

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Mangold further shared that he laid some conditions in front of Stallone to accept him for the lead role of Sheriff Freddy Heflin in the film. The ground rules were,

“All I laid out on the table was that I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he was going to take control of it, and I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he was going to change it, and I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he wouldn’t get fat.”

To his surprise, The Expendables star humbly agreed to all the conditions. It was something that caught the filmmaker’s attention as other actors whom he approached were unwilling to meet his demands.

“And Sly in each case was like, look, it’s your movie, it’s your script, so we’ll do exactly what you wrote, and also, I’ll gain weight – I’d love to. And he was an angel about it in a way that a lot of other actors I’d approached before him were not angels about it. They were not happy about playing the unsexy or hesitant hero at the center of the movie, and here was this guy who was really into it.”

When he found Mr. Sheriff for the film, he went ahead with him.

“And I decided to take the leap with him, and for many reasons I’m glad I did.”

The 1997 film featured an ensemble star-studded cast which grossed $63.7 million. It is available on Prime Video.

Source: IndieWire