In the mid-1970s, Sylvester Stallone came up with the true artifact of pop culture in the shape of his sports drama Rocky. Playing the role of Rocky Balboa, a lowly boxer who got the opportunity to fight the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, Stallone changed the trajectory of his career.
But what’s most stunning is the fact that Sylvester Stallone not only appeared in the movie but also wrote the script for Rocky. Practically inventing his modern boxing film, and popularizing the rags-to-riches narrative, Stallone spoke about what motivated him to write the script.
Sylvester Stallone’s Motivation For Writing Rocky
The world has notable reasons for considering Sylvester Stallone as a veteran icon in Hollywood. Making his screen debut in the 1970s with an adult film, The Party at Kitty and Stud’s, Stallone successfully changed the course of his career with his smash hit Rocky in 1976. But the actor’s connection with his sports drama, goes beyond just appearing in the lead role.
Apart from playing the character of Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone also wrote a phenomenal script for the movie. Proving his talents in every field, Stallone stunned his audiences with his 1976 sports drama. But what exactly motivated him to write the story for Rocky? Speaking with BBC, the actor addressed his driving force and discussed his motivation.
“I felt at the time that cinema, at least the movies I had been seeing, was at an all-time low. Everything was anti-society, anti-Christ, anti-government, anti-everything, and there was no one to root for.”
“And I also feel that films are very cyclic, so I wanted to get back into the cycle of the films of 1940s and the 1950s where people say, ‘Hey, gee, I miss the good old films, yet Hollywood [hadn’t] made any good old fashioned type films where morality was at the forefront.’”
Therefore, eventually, the actor found his motivation to write the script for Rocky which turned into a massive hit, followed by a few more sequels.
Sylvester Stallone Wanted a Worthy Opportunity
While speaking about his motivation for writing Rocky, Sylvester Stallone admitted how he wrote the script by considering himself in the lead role. He was then asked if he thought he was a bit presumptuous in thinking that he would be able to land the lead role, given that his career had not exactly taken off as he had hoped.
“I was mostly what is known as atmosphere. I was in the background, the drunk that was being stepped over in the gutter and other lame roles. But I felt that if I was gonna go down into professional obscurity, I wanted to at least have the opportunity to say to myself, ‘Well, you tried. You put your best foot forward, and you didn’t make it’.”
Giving the entertainment industry his last shot, was somewhat a motivational factor that helped Sylvester Stallone not only write the script but also chase for the lead role. And certainly, after listening to his discussion, Stallone’s reality seems quite similar to the very story of Rocky. Perhaps, the actor was meant to play the lead in his 1976 sports drama.
Watch Rocky movies on Amazon Prime Video.
