“Arnold would have done the same thing”: Sylvester Stallone Fights With Only One Hand in Rocky 2 and the Reason Behind It Will Blow Your Mind
Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, 1979’s Rocky II is a sports drama movie starring the actor himself as Rocky Balboa and is the second installment in the Rocky film series. The movie shows the struggles of Rocky Balboa as he adjusts to his newly found fame and family life.
Rocky II, upon its release, received a positive response from the critics and the audience, with them appreciating the characterization and the climax of the movie. Regarded as one of the most iconic characters of Stallone, the actor was highly appreciated for his performance in the movie. But it was not just Rocky Balboa struggling to adjust to the new life; Sly on the other side of the camera was struggling too.
Sylvester Stallone reveals the reason for the plot twist in Rocky II
In an exclusive interview with TMZ, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down to talk about how their rivalry turned into a close friendship. Stallone further dwelled on the plot twist for his 1979 movie Rocky II.
Sly shared that to prepare for the role of the boxer, he had the honor of working with late bodybuilding icon Franco Columbu, who happened to be Schwarzenegger’s trainer and friend. Sly said he pushed himself a little too far while training, which resulted in an injury that occurred just a month and a half before he was ready to start Rocky II. He explained,
“I gotta tell you about Frank. This guy here, he was very eccentric. We’re working, and he goes, ‘Let’s have a competition with bench press’. I said, ‘You won.’ He goes, ‘No, come anyway.’ So I go down, and it’s maybe only 200, and I’m just warming up, and I hear, ‘Pow’. I go ugh, and I fall on the floor, and I’m going ahh, and then Franco goes, ‘Let me see,’ and he jams his fingers.”
Stallone added that he had torn his pec off the bone, and it was bad that he thought he was going to black out. The actor then revealed how he used his injury to change the plot of the movie.
“So I go home. I feel like my career is over. I’m supposed to start Rocky II—direct it, everything—in a month and a half. And I said I had to have this thing swen up. Here’s the difference, and Arnold would have done the same thing. I can’t use this arm, so I’ll change it in Rocky; he’ll fight right-handed.”
The actor mentioned that he knew it was illogical, but he was not going to stop working on the movie just because he had an injury. He lastly added that for Rocky II, it was one of the key things, adding that it’s interesting the way the incredible journeys happen, but they don’t quit or stop.
Sylvester Stallone accused of creating a ‘toxic environment’ on Tulsa King sets
Sylvester Stallone decided to share with his fans online that he is now done filming for the second season of Tulsa King, a Paramount+ series created by Taylor Sheridan. What surprised the fans was that he was not responding to or addressing the accusations that he was creating a toxic environment on the set.
Atlanta-based Catrett Locke Casting, which was hired to find actors 18 and over for the second season of the show, announced on Monday that they have decided to part ways from the show. They wrote on their Facebook page,
“We wanted to send you an update on the happenings here in our casting world. We have chosen to part ways with Tulsa King. We will be finishing up next week, and the 12th will be our last day. We send well wishes to whoever takes over the show. We thank all of you great background artists for your continued support.”
Variety reports that a Facebook post accused the actor and an unnamed director of calling some of the extras with disparaging words. The reports mentioned that casting director Rose Locke shared,
“At the end of the day, I resigned because it was a clear toxic environment that I was not comfortable putting myself or background artists in.”
Director and executive producer Craig Zisk has denied the allegations and shared with TMZ that no such thing has ever occurred. He mentioned that Rose Locke, who was not present on set during the day of the alleged encounter, had improperly cast the extras. Despite the wrong casting, Zisk said that because the extras were polite and did their jobs well, they ended up using them for the scene.
Stressed upon Sly asking them to bring ‘pretty girls’ around him, the director said his wife, Jennifer Flavin, was with him during the filming. Season one of Tulsa King is available to stream on Paramount+.
