Sylvester Stallone has opened up about the extreme physical transformation behind two of the most famous characters of his career, Rocky Balboa and John Rambo.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, the 80-year-old actor reflected on the pressure he placed on himself to build and maintain the muscular physique that became closely associated with both characters.
Stallone also confirmed that he used steroids during his career and suggested that performance-enhancing substances were more common among actors and athletes pursuing extreme physiques than people might assume.
"Nobody does it without additives and drugs, period. I don't care who they say. Bullshit. It has to," Stallone said.
According to Stallone, the physical transformation was not simply about becoming bigger or more muscular. It was connected to how he wanted audiences to understand the characters and how their personalities changed throughout the stories.
When he looked at Rocky, Stallone initially saw a relatively ordinary-looking man. As the character became more successful and confident, however, he wanted Rocky's appearance to reflect that change.
"I looked at Rocky, a very smooth and normal-looking guy, and then I said if we move on…the character would start to become more vain,” he recalled. “And then if Rambo, you're playing a warrior, you'd be a little bit more animalistic. You wouldn't be so smooth. So I started to think, design your body like a jaguar, a cat. Very limber and moving, athletic," he said.
What began as a creative decision eventually became much more intense for Stallone.
"And then it became an obsession. Really bad," Stallone said, calling his body "my armor" and what followed "literally an obsessive body worship kind of a thing."
The actor said his focus on maintaining his physique eventually became so extreme that it developed into an eating disorder.
"It became to the point where I became bulimic," he said. "I couldn't hold anything down. Or if I did, I didn't want to keep it down."
Stallone said he became consumed with maintaining a particular level of physical conditioning and remained caught in that cycle until he eventually managed to break away from it.
The actor also described the use of steroids and other enhancements as having a "terrible toll" on his life. His comments highlight the physical and psychological pressure that came with trying to maintain the body he believed his characters required.
One of the major steps in moving away from that lifestyle came with his role in the 1997 crime drama Cop Land. Instead of portraying another physically dominant action hero, Stallone played Sheriff Freddy Heflin, a character who was intentionally presented as physically vulnerable.
Stallone described the role as an important change because he was finally willing to portray "the weakest guy in the room."
The decision allowed him to move away from the highly muscular image that had defined much of his action career and explore a different kind of performance.
His comments also provide more context for the enormous physical transformations associated with his most famous roles. Rocky and Rambo helped establish Stallone as one of Hollywood's defining action stars, but maintaining the physiques associated with those characters came with personal costs that were not always visible to audiences.
Stallone is now preparing to share more details about his life and career in his upcoming memoir, The Steps. The book is scheduled for release on September 29 and will explore his early years in Hollywood, his career and the creation of Rocky.
The memoir is expected to offer a broader look at the experiences that shaped Stallone's career, including the decisions and challenges behind some of his most recognizable characters.
