“I took a terrible beating”: Sylvester Stallone Had the Most Gruelling Action Scenes of His Life While Shooting a Rocky Movie
For many years, Sylvester Stallone has been a popular Hollywood action actor, winning people over with his charisma and blockbuster films. The illustrious Rocky franchise tends to be the first thing that springs to mind when we think about Stallone. He has served as the star of this renowned sports drama franchise for more than three decades. But for the actor, it wasn’t always simple. In order to bring these movies to life, Stallone pushed himself to the absolute limit while filming a Rocky movie. The actor had to face the most gruelling action scenes of his life while shooting a Rocky movie.
Sylvester Stallone suffered severe injuries while filming a Rocky movie
Sylvester Stallone has always had a special place in his heart for the Rocky franchise. Despite having a large filmography, Rocky continues to be his most notable franchise. However, Stallone suffered a critical injury when one of the Rocky movies was being filmed. Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone, and Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers, trade vicious blows in the boxing ring in Rocky II.
What’s shocking is that Stallone actually sustained these wounds; they weren’t made up for the sake of the film. Stallone discussed the depth of his wounds during an interview with the late Roger Ebert, admitting that the brutal boxing scenes he had to film left him “pretty messed up.”
He said in the interview, “I took a terrible beating. I let Carl Weathers really pound me. It was the most gruelling thing I’ve ever been through.” Rocky II‘s fight was longer and featured far more punches than the original. Stallone’s attention to realism resulted in several actual hits landing, causing serious injuries. He added that learning not to punch in a fight scene was just as difficult as mastering convincing punch landings. But that’s not the end of it. Stallone’s injury in Rocky IV required a two-week production suspension due to its severity.
While filming Rocky IV, Sylvester Stallone had to be admitted to the hospital
Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor in the early 1970s. Sylvester Stallone was an up-and-coming performer in the early 1970s. Stallone’s breakout performance as Rocky Balboa in the 1976 blockbuster Rocky was inspired by his own struggles and he channeled that passion into the role. As Rocky, an aspiring boxer, prepares to face Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion, the movie follows his journey. Stallone himself wrote the screenplay and played the lead role. Due to his love for the character, Stallone was involved in many sequels, scripting all five of them and directing four of them.
But Stallone endured a very severe injury while Rocky IV was being filmed in 1985, especially when working with co-star Dolph Lundgren, who played the fearsome Ivan Drago. Stallone gave Lundgren the order to strike him in order to evoke actual emotions in the interest of realism. This dedication to authenticity, however, took a hazardous turn when Lundgren struck Stallone with a strong uppercut, sending him to the intensive care unit for nine days. The punch was so powerful that the injuries it caused were similar to what one could get in a head-on collision. Lundgren didn’t realize how serious the event was until he heard that Stallone was in the hospital, which caused a break in the production.
The famous actor showed incredible bravery even after suffering serious injuries that required hospitalization. Stallone didn’t let this setback slow him down. Instead, he made a remarkable recovery and got back to filming the rest of the movie in no time.
Source: Roger Ebert
