“I worked as an usher at the Baronet Theater in 1970 and would wear the same tuxedo that the two guys on the previous shifts wore; my God, were they smelly,” he says. “My job was to change the letters and the number of rating stars on the marquee. So one night, I stole one of the stars. Another worker goes, ‘What are you going to do with that?’ I told him, ‘I’m going to put it on the door when I do the Johnny Carson show.’ He said, ‘You’re so full of s–t.’ But I did it. And I still have that star.” That minor theft certainly didn’t land him in the clink, but the criminal act he’s about to commit tonight? That’s a different story. “We’re burying a biker gang member we just killed.” Stallone, 76, is sitting in his trailer inside a junkyard on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. The actor—whose wide résumé includes the Rocky franchise, the Rambo franchise, The Lords of Flatbush, Tango & Cash, Cliffhanger, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 The Lords of Flatbush and the recent superhero/action flick Samaritan—is here filming a scene for Tulsa King, a new crime drama from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan (streaming Nov. 13 on Paramount+). The show, the first regular TV series in Stallone’s career, tells the story of his character, Dwight Manfredi, a New York mafioso ex-con sent to set up operations in glamorous Tulsa, Okla. “Dwight is a fish out of water,” says Stallone. “He’s a New York guy in cowboy land. I love the challenges and the possibilities that it brings.”
Married to the Mob
In his legendary dramatic career, the actor known as “Sly” has played everything from a boxer with a heart of gold to a Green Beret who rips bad guy’s hearts out when he’s feeling testy. But up until now, landing a juicy mafioso role left him feeling like he was languishing in witness protection. “I’ve always wanted to play a mob guy and I remember saying to [director] Marty Scorsese, ‘What is it exactly that I have to do to convince you, murder you?’” he laughs. “I’ll never forget that I tried to be an extra in the wedding scene of The Godfather and couldn’t get a part. I was like, ‘I can’t get any more Italian—what am I doing wrong here?’” But while the Hollywood mobsters weren’t banging on his door, real ones were—literally. Shortly after Rocky 3 came out, Stallone explains that word got around that he was interested in doing the Sammy the Bull story, about the notorious mobster who became an underboss of the Gambino crime family. “All of a sudden, these three guys show up at my door and say, ‘That’s not a good idea,’” he says. “So I told them ‘A: I have no plans to do that, and B: Stop staring at me like I’m a warm meal.”’ The mobsters took him at his word, and to make it up to him, took Stallone out to play a round of golf. “On Monday, they came to kill me. On Tuesday, they’re wearing matching Bermuda shorts, tipping caddies with hundred-dollar bills and shanking shots into flocks of geese. Pure comedy.” While Tulsa King is a drama, Stallone’s sometimes twisted sense of humor has seeped into his character and the overall tone of the show. Showrunner and writer Terence Winter, whose hit list of credits includes The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, says, “One of the best things about working with Sly is that you don’t just get a phenomenal actor, you also get an incredibly seasoned director, producer and Oscar-nominated screenwriter. His understanding of his character has helped shape more moments and storylines than I can count.”
Lights, Camera, Ambulance!
There are fewer and fewer true Hollywood icons left in the world, and at this stage in Sly’s career, it would be reasonable to think that a guy whose movies have grossed over $3 billion domestically would be the type of megastar who emerges from his trailer, says his lines when a director calls “Action!” and then jumps on a private jet heading home, right? “Whatever the opposite of that is, that’s the type of person Sly Stallone is,” says Tulsa King producer Braden Aftergood. “He shares his thoughts from the big-picture storyline down to the words coming out of his character’s mouth. He brings his vast experience to the table.” Here in this dark, buggy junkyard, when Stallone walks onto the set, a buzz shoots through the crew, from the director all the way down to the guy making sure nobody trips over an extension cord. He is clearly not of the “Don’t make eye contact with me” variety. He messes around with cast member Garrett Hedlund as they stand over the hole where they are soon to deposit the aforementioned unlucky biker, and he playfully tells a makeup artist who is spritzing him with water to make him look visibly sweaty to scram. “All of my life people are spraying me with ice cold water,” he says, “and you can never even see it on film!” For sure, he’s no stranger to suffering for his art. When the topic turns to on-set injuries, he holds up his phone and flips through a nightmarish hellscape of bloody, burnt and broken-bone selfies. He grimaces at every image and can’t help but laugh at his misfortunes. “I was bitten by a poisonous spider in Thailand, they blew up a car across the street and of course, shrapnel landed on me!” he says. “I tell everyone, if you can avoid doing your own stunts, avoid doing your own stunts! You’re not really a hero. You’re not in Iraq at war. I’ve had well over 45 procedures from movie stunts gone wrong, and all I can say is that I am grateful for epidurals.” Stallone stepped into the Marvel Comics Universe via his role as interstellar criminal Stakar Ogord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise; maybe he’d prefer shooting like that, in an air conditioned studio in front of a green screen, rather than a blazing hot junkyard? “No,” he says without hesitation. “I did that, and after three days, I wanted to kill myself. It’s like being trapped in an aquarium. Same room, same temperature, same clothing. Imagine getting up at 3:30 in the morning for three hours of makeup? I told [co-star] Dave Bautista,`You’re a legend to be able to do this.”
Rocky’s Legacy
Watching him float around the set, it is easy to forget that the guy who became famous for creating the indelible image of a young boxer is now 76 years old. Born in the notorious “Hell’s Kitchen” neighborhood of Manhattan, Stallone and his younger brother, Frank, grew up a household with their dad, Frank, a hairdresser and beautician; mother Jackie promoted women’s wrestling. Complications in his birth necessitated the use of forceps for his delivery, accidentally severing a nerve and causing partial paralysis in his face. Such a difficult entry into the world, though, provided a couple of things that would become his trademarks as an actor—his “signature” snarling look and slurred speech. Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images His childhood, parents and home life, he says, nurtured his creativity and certainly funneled into his movie breakthrough—and his most memorable role. “I grew up in that [Rocky] culture,” he says. “My father was very rough, and just dialed into that. But I was also on the other side; even though I was somewhat physical, I was always artistically inclined; painting this and that.” He famously decided to transform his body and life at the age of 12 after seeing the movie Hercules Unchained (“I left the movie and went by a scrap yard and made some weights out of old brake drums and car parts.”) As evidenced by his biceps, fitness continues to be a regular part of his life; he’s in better shape than most 20-year-olds. “I’ve switched over from weights to Pilates and resistance bands. Weights create uneducated muscles, but your muscles are dying for a job! I always advise people to jump rope, hit the speed bag; your arm wants to do something besides flex!” His muscles did more than just flex in Rocky, which rocketed him in 1976 from dead-broke struggling actor to superstardom at the age of 30. By now the story is Hollywood legend: Stallone, so broke he had to sell his dog to buy food, was offered $300,000 (today’s equivalent of $1.8 million) for the screenplay—about a scrappy, broke Philly boxer—and said no, unless he can star in it. “I just knew I would be the most miserable person for the rest of my life if I let that role go,” he says. “I knew it would shorten my life, so it was just one of those situations where you just let it all ride.” It was a gamble that obviously paid off (and yes, he bought his dog back only at “a significantly higher price.”) More than four decades after Rocky’s premiere, Stallone says he is astonished by the reaction the film still gets. “I have people show me their tattoos of Rocky, and what boggles my mind is young kids—6-year-olds—who love this character who is two and a half generations before their time. How do they relate to this boxer? I think it is that this guy with no real attributes, beside [his] dignity, prevails.” He might be a superstar, but he is just like almost everyone else in that if he’s flipping around the channels and Rocky comes on, he’s watching. “But I do it for a different reason,” he says. “I think, Oh, I did have a good hairline back then. So you just watch yourself become more decrepit.” He laughs. “My viewing is probably a lot more morbid than other people’s.” Talking with Stallone, it becomes clear that his enthusiasm for movies and art has not waned since Rocky made that first triumphant dash up the steps of Philadelphia Museum of Art. He still has, well, the eye of the tiger to do great work. But he is also not above poking fun at any of his self-described career missteps. “I did Rhinestone,” he says, “when I should have done Romancing the Stone.” But as much as he loves to talk about his craft, if you want to see Sylvester Stallone truly light up, ask him about his three daughters. Sophia, 26, has her own makeup line; Sistine, 24, is a model and budding actress; and Scarlet, 20, a social influencer. All three are with his wife, Jennifer Flavin. “I’m a punching bag to my kids,” he laughs. “I get it, they grew up around all of this stuff, so there is no shock factor for them. But the thing that was important to me raising them was that they are empathetic to people who have less, and they’ve turned out to be just fantastic. I credit Jennifer with that.” Just a couple of months ago, he and his entire family were working on a reality show together, scheduled to debut on Paramount+…sort of like another Hollywood family that’s all over TV. So, wait: Is Stallone a Kardashian watcher? “I do watch reality shows,” he admits. “I think it is important to stay engaged with where society is going. Plus, it’s cathartic to watch people’s lives that are more screwed up than yours.” He says he watches whatever his daughters are watching, but notes, “I draw the line on Love Island. Jersey Shore is more my speed.” From a kid who grew up with less than nothing to a 30-year-old who made a $300,000 bet on himself to the iconic actor he’s become, he has a motto in his head that has kept him on track. “‘Keep punching until you can’t punch no more.’ It’s always been that way for me,” he says. “It certainly beats the alternative of getting punched.”
Speed Punching
Quick hits on Sly’s must-list. What he’s reading: “I’ve been reading Killing the Mob for research, and I find myself going back to classic early literature—James Fenimore Cooper, Melville, Dickens, Joseph Conrad—because it blows my mind how good they were and how they would have to sit there and type or handwrite these masterpieces. Incredible.” Favorite dessert: “It used to be banana splits, but that’s a dying art now. My daughter goes, ‘Eww!’ Back in the day, they were a staple for me.” Easy Rider: “There’s nothing I can’t do on a horse. I played semi-professional polo. I trained horses. You name it, I rode it. So, if acting didn’t work out, that was going to be my life. But, you have to be leery of horses. As Eddie Murphy said, you can’t trust anything that can run and @#$% at the same time.”
