Actor Anthony Ippolito has described his conversation with Sylvester Stallone ahead of filming "I Play Rocky," the biographical film in which Ippolito plays the Hollywood star. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, Ippolito told The Hollywood Reporter that the discussion with Stallone about his life, his early career and the creation of "Rocky" was an overwhelming experience.
"I Play Rocky," directed by Peter Farrelly, tells the story of the difficult path to making the legendary 1976 boxing film, which won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Ippolito said he had the chance to speak with Stallone before filming began, and that there was a great deal to process because he had already spent more than a year studying him.
He said the experience was very intense and somewhat frightening, with a lot going through his mind, but that he mostly tried to listen as much as possible and understand Stallone's own perspective. Ippolito noted that while "Rocky" tells the story of an outsider, Stallone himself was, in many ways, an outsider in his real life.
Stallone's childhood and facial paralysis
Ippolito said he and Stallone discussed his childhood and the many difficulties he had to overcome. Among them was paralysis on the lower left side of his face, caused when doctors accidentally injured a nerve during his birth. That complication went on to shape Stallone's distinctive voice and expression, features that became recognized around the world after the huge success of "Rocky" in the 1970s.
Ippolito said Stallone had lived with the facial paralysis since birth, and that it made everything harder for him, including his effort to become an actor. He said hearing directly from Stallone about what it was like to live with that condition showed how much he had endured, calling it a miracle the film was made at all and that audiences are still celebrating it 50 years later.
Studio resistance to Stallone's vision
Director Peter Farrelly also described the obstacles Stallone faced in bringing "Rocky" to the screen, saying the studio at the time put obstacles in his way in the hope of eventually replacing him with another actor for the role of Rocky Balboa.
Stallone wrote the "Rocky" screenplay himself and insisted on keeping the lead role. The film went on to become one of the most commercially successful sports movie franchises of all time, with worldwide box office receipts exceeding $1.7 billion.
Farrelly said many people already know pieces of the story, but that he himself had not known the full picture before working on the film. He described countless twists, saying the studio not only resisted Stallone but, even after agreeing to move forward with him, made things difficult so that if he fell behind schedule they could replace him with someone else. Farrelly stopped short of calling it sabotage.
Stallone's reaction to the finished film
According to Farrelly, Stallone's own opinion of "I Play Rocky" mattered most to everyone who worked on it. The director revealed that Stallone has already seen the film and given his approval.
Farrelly said Stallone loved it, calling it a huge relief. He said he had been anxious partly because Stallone watched it alone, when the film works especially well with an audience.
He added that he was worried about Stallone sitting through it by himself, particularly because parts of the film, especially the opening sections showing Stallone at his lowest point, are difficult to watch.
