Before becoming a legend in the entertainment industry, Sylvester Stallone saw a ton of lows in his life. Whether it was working in a zoo for 1.5 dollars an hour or having to sleep on park benches on his quest for fame, Sylvester Stallone has seen it all, which makes his success even more inspiring. The actor is one of the best examples of a ‘rags to riches’ story.
Sylvester Stallone eventually decided to try his hand at experimental theatre and got cast in a production of Pablo Picasso’s Desire Caught by the Tail. Unfortunately, the play was pretty awful and Sylvester Stallone was quick to realize this. However, things got worse when a fellow actor blasted a fire extinguisher on Sylvester Stallone’s face.
Sylvester Stallone had to be Rushed to the Hospital
In his book, The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage, Nick de Semlyen wrote about the time Sylvester Stallone was part of a god-awful play. Stallone played a “Minotaur-like creature” and de Semlyen described the plot as basically “non-existent.”
Talking about his costume, which included a huge fake p*nis, Stallone stated, “It was a giant red appendage that you had to wrap around and stick in your G-string because it was bothering you. You really couldn’t walk.”
It was during this play that Stallone had to be rushed to the hospital after his co-star sprayed the fire extinguisher directly on the Rocky actor’s face, freezing his lips and eyes shut. De Semlyen writes,
“On a subsequent evening, Stallone ended up in the hospital after one of the other actors blasted a fire extinguisher in his face, freezing shut his lips and eyes. The incident saw the play close after a grand total of three weeks, and Stallone’s face turn an unnatural shade of brown for the next four months.”
Thankfully, the horrible experience did not diminish Stallone’s spirit and he continued on bagging small roles. Meanwhile, the actor was trying his hand out at writing, and after a few questionable scripts, he came up with Rocky. While we now know that the film was incredible and so was Stallone in the lead role, producers didn’t want the actor to be associated with the project at all.
Sylvester Stallone Was Asked to Sell the Script of Rocky
In an interview with Michael Watson, Stallone recalled the time he went to watch a match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. The fight inspired Stallone to write a story a drama about a “good guy surrounded by rotten people.” Stallone finished writing the script in just three and a half days.
While walking out of one of his many auditions, Stallone decided to try his luck and talked to the producers about his script. While they loved the script, they did not want Stallone to play the lead role, which was the actor’s condition for letting them use his script. The producers even offered him over $300,000 to walk away without the script but Stallone wasn’t one to budge. He knew the film could open doors for him.
Ultimately, they decided to take the risk and hired Stallone for the role. The film was made and it was time for D-day – the screening at The Director’s Guild. Stallone recalled how he thought the audience wasn’t responding well to the film and how he thought he blew his shot. Well, that was until the entire theatre erupted in applause.
“The laughs weren’t coming where they were supposed to. The fight scenes seemed to be listless, as the response was. And I just sat there, as everyone left the theatre, and I couldn’t believe it. I really blew it. I was humiliated and saddened by it. So I walked down 3 flights of stairs out of the theatre and everyone from the theatre was standing there waiting for me. And they started to applaud. I mean, truly applaud. I’ll never experience a moment like that again.”
And thus began Stallone’s journey to inevitable stardom. Today, the actor’s name is listed amongst the most renowned actors in the world. His story just goes on to say that as long as you are determined and don’t back down, great things will eventually happen for you.
You can stream Rocky on Netflix.
Source: The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen
