Sylvester Stallone has been a recognizable name in Hollywood for almost 50 years, and he still shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The action icon has gritty superhero thriller Samaritan and James Gunn’s blockbuster comic book sequel The Suicide Squad coming this year, while he’s also putting the finishing touches on his Director’s Cut of Rocky IV.
It’s taken a lot of hard work for the 74 year-old to get to this point, and his entire career can be traced right back to Rocky. Before then, Stallone was one of just many jobbing actors trying to get their foot in the Hollywood door, before he wrote his screenplay about a struggling journeyman boxer getting his shot at the big time.
Putting his foot down, Stallone refused to sell his script to the studio unless he played the title role, which was a bold power move by someone who was an unproven and unknown 29 year-old when shooting kicked off. Of course, Rocky ultimately went on to earn $225 million at the box office on a budget of less than $1 million, winning Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards, while Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
In a recent social media post, the Rambo star reflected on his lengthy Hollywood journey, posting a throwback photo to his days as a broke and unemployed nobody, accompanied by a motivational caption, and you can check them both out below.
“This is exactly what an unemployed, going nowhere fast, 22-year-old actor/writer living in a $71 a month apartment looks like. There’s always a way out if you want to get out. There’s always a way up if you want to REALLY go up.”
Of course, at this point, it would be an understatement to say that Sylvester Stallone‘s done pretty well for himself in the half a century since that photo was taken, and even now he’s still got no intention of taking it easy. Which is perfectly fine with us.
Published: Mar 1, 2021 10:23 am