If Sylvester Stallone immortalized Rocky Balboa in the iconic franchise, Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed was equally instrumental in getting him to the top. The 76-year-old veteran passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 1st, 2024, as per a statement released by his family. Apart from being a pivotal part of Rocky’s evolution, Weathers also appeared in 3 seasons of The Mandalorian in the role of Greef Karga, a former leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild.
Following the actor’s demise, an outpouring of wishes has flooded social media from all corners, with many of Weathers’ close associates and other celebrities paying tribute to his legacy. Gina Carano who shared screen space with him in The Mandalorian, fondly remembered the star’s magnanimity and compassion towards her when she faced the disappointment of not being recalled to the 3rd season of the show.
Gina Carano Reminisced About Carl Weathers’ Kindness
Carl Weathers’ death has been a huge loss to Hollywood. Many of his peers are paying fond tributes to the star who was the face of memorable films including his iconic turn as Apollo Creed in the cult classic Rocky series. Weathers was also seen in a significant role over 3 seasons of The Mandalorian in which he co-starred with Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano.
Carano who played Cara Dune in 2 seasons of the hit show, was unfortunately not considered for the 3rd season after her controversial and allegedly anti-semitic comments in 2021 regarding her comparisons between Holocaust Jews and the US political climate. While she was dealing with this disappointing blow to her career, Carl Weathers made a compassionate and empathetic call to her which she recalled fondly upon the actor’s death in a post on Instagram.
“He was gentle, and encouraging and didn’t want me to give up, he was letting me know that he wasn’t throwing me away, he was trying to keep my hope alive in what seemed like quite hopeless scenario, he showed me he cared. That is who he was.”
Carano continued her tribute by saying that both she and Weathers shared a common bond through their background as athletes, and believed that she was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work so closely with someone as experienced and understanding as the American Warships star.
How Carl Weathers Became Apollo Creed In Rocky
Carl Weathers who passed away at the age of 76, is best known for his impressive performance as Apollo Creed in Sylvester Stallone’s evergreen Rocky films. This career-defining role has an interesting backstory with regard to the unconventional manner in which Weathers actually came on board. The Dangerous Passion actor was called upon to read the initial draft of the script with Stallone who was also the writer of the film.
Following the session, Weathers was not too happy with how the reading went, and proceeded to express his awkwardness with instinctive candor by shockingly insulting The Expendables star. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled the cringeworthy moment when he realized that it was possibly too late to undo the impact of his words.
“So I just blurted out, ‘I could do a lot better if you got me a real actor to work with.’ So I just insulted the star of the movie without really knowing it and not intending to,”
As luck would have it, Weathers’ scathing honesty worked in his favor. Despite being the target of the insult, Sylvester Stallone was impressed with the straightforward demeanor of the Action Jackson star and felt that it would work perfectly for the character of Apollo Creed in Rocky. The rest, as they say, is history.
