Sylvester Stallone is opening up about the less glamorous side of fame, revealing that he’s struggled with a tumultuous relationship with his body since physically transforming to play the titular boxer in “Rocky.”
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the famous actor reflected on his “intimate” relationship with his body and how it has evolved over time. “That was my armor. I looked at Rocky: a very gentle guy, very normal looking. And then I said, I think the character is going to start getting a little more conceited. And then in ‘Rambo,’ you play a warrior, so you would be a little more animalistic. You wouldn’t be as gentle,” he said. “So I started thinking: design your body like a jaguar, a cat. Not big like Arnold, but more wild and aggressive and very flexible and athletic.”
However, Stallone admitted that this type of thinking “became an obsession.” “I got to the point where I became bulimic,” he said. “I got down to 2.6 percent body fat when I was doing ‘Rocky III,’ and I couldn’t keep anything down. Or I didn’t want to maintain it because I was becoming so obsessed with staying at that point of fitness, literally a kind of obsessive body worship.”
Steroids also played a role, he continued: “Nobody does it without additives or drugs, period. I don’t care what they say. It’s not like you’re a drug addict, but if you want to train and try to stay in shape for six months straight and you eat yogurt and pudding, that’s not going to happen.” He noted that he would use the drugs “sensibly – six weeks on, six weeks off.” “People say, ‘Oh, you don’t get that naturally.’ » No, that’s not the case. But it also had terrible consequences. »
“It wasn’t until I did ‘Cop Land,’ where I had to play the weakest guy in the room — partially deaf, overweight — that I felt somewhat liberated,” he said. “But yes, I abused my body.”
Today, Stallone said he no longer considered his body his armor, but treating it in the “masochistic” way he did came at “a terrible price.” “If I had to do it again, I’d say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts,'” he said.
Stallone’s upcoming memoir, “The Steps,” is available September 29.
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