Sylvester Stallone would be in “big trouble” if he was trying to make his career in today’s Hollywood.
On Monday, Stallone sat down with CBS Sunday Morning’s Tracy Smith in their new series at 92NY. During the conversation, the “Rocky” icon was asked if he believed he would be as successful today as he was 50 years ago.
“No. It’s a whole different mindset. The actors look different, they act different. The subject matter, I couldn’t relate to,” Stallone began. “No, I would be in trouble.”
He even drew comparisons to the iconic 1972 movie, “The Godfather.”
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“If you were going to make ‘The Godfather’ today… try casting it,” he said.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Stallone discussed what he would have done if “Rocky” was not a success.
“I would have been in a cell somewhere,” he said with a laugh, referring to serving a prison sentence. “Or in husbandry with horses and animals. I was about the same intelligence as a horse. I was going to be a horse person, I related to the animals.”
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“Rocky” became a cultural phenomenon after its 1976 release, earning more than $225 million worldwide on a modest budget and winning the Academy Award for best picture. Stallone wrote and starred in the movie, earning Oscar nominations for best actor and best original screenplay.
Its success launched a long-running franchise and established Stallone as one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars.
Stallone told Smith that he has and will always live by “Murphy’s Law” – which helped him fuel the “Rocky” success. Murphy’s law is a popular proverb that states: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
An example of putting this law to work still comes into play for Stallone when he’s staying at a hotel with his wife, Jennifer Flavin.
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The star told Smith that he walks the route to the fire escape from his hotel room when he stays anywhere with Flavin. Stallone explained that he needs to know exactly how many steps it would take to get there from his hotel room in case the lights go out.
Stallone and Flavin met in 1988 and married in May 1997. The couple share three daughters: Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet. Although Flavin filed for divorce in 2022 after 25 years of marriage, they reconciled one month later.
In this phase of the actor’s life, Stallone is gearing up to release his memoir, “The Steps.”
When asked during the 92NY event what the greatest “step” of his life has been, Stallone said it will always be the first one.
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“It really is that first step. When you go, ‘I’m all in, and I’m going to keep going up these steps until my legs go out.’ It’s the journey of life,” he said.
“The Steps: A Memoir” releases on Sept. 29.
