Sylvester Stallone recently opened up about the darker side of the extreme physical transformations that defined a major part of his career. The 80-year-old actor has revealed that his obsession with maintaining his physique while making the ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’ films eventually became so intense that he developed bulimia. Stallone also spoke openly about his past steroid use and the lasting physical damage caused by years of pushing his body too far.
Sylvester Stallone says his body became his ‘armor’
Sylvester Stallone explained that his approach to his physique changed as his characters changed. When he first played Rocky Balboa, he saw the character as a fairly ordinary-looking man. But as the ‘Rocky’ films continued, Stallone wanted the boxer to look more muscular and increasingly conscious of his appearance.Then came Rambo, a character who required a completely different physical look. “It became very intimate, you might say. It was my armour,” Stallone told The New York Times.He said he wanted Rambo to look less polished and more like a warrior, which led him to think about creating a body that looked “more feral and aggressive” while still being athletic and flexible.“I started to think: Design your body like a jaguar, a cat. Not big like Arnold [Schwarzenegger], but more feral and aggressive and very limber and athletic,” he said. That thinking eventually went much further than simply preparing for a movie role.
Sylvester Stallone says he became bulimic during ‘Rocky III’
While filming 1982’s ‘Rocky III’, Sylvester Stallone said his pursuit of the perfect action-star physique became an obsession. “Then it became an obsession. Really bad,” he said.The actor revealed that he developed bulimia during this period and brought his body fat percentage down to an extremely low 2.6%. “I got down to 2.6 per cent body fat when I was doing Rocky III, and I couldn’t hold anything down. Or I didn’t want to keep it down because I became so obsessed with staying at that point of fitness, literally an obsessive body-worship kind of thing,” Stallone said.He also made it clear that he used drugs and steroids while trying to maintain the physique associated with his action roles. “Nobody does it without additives and drugs, period. I don’t care what they say,” he said.Stallone explained that he would use steroids in cycles, describing a pattern of six weeks on and six weeks off. He acknowledged that the approach eventually came with a serious physical cost.
Sylvester Stallone admits steroids took a ‘terrible toll’
Sylvester Stallone said his steroid use was connected to the pressure he put on himself to remain in peak physical condition for long periods. “It isn’t as though you’re a junkie, but if you’re going to work out and try to stay in shape for six months straight, and you’re eating yogurt and pudding, it’s not happening,” he said.He added that the process “took a terrible toll.” The actor has undergone nine back operations, two shoulder operations and three neck fusions over the years. Despite the injuries, Stallone said he still wants to stay in shape at 80.“I’ve abused my body,” he admitted. For someone whose screen image has been built around physical toughness for decades, Stallone now looks back at those years with a very different perspective.
‘Cop Land’ changed Sylvester Stallone’s relationship with his body
One of the biggest turning points came with the 1997 crime drama ‘Cop Land’. Unlike Rocky or Rambo, Stallone’s character, Freddy Heflin, was overweight, partially deaf and physically weaker than the men around him. Stallone said playing “the weakest guy in the room” actually gave him a sense of freedom.“It wasn’t until I did Cop Land, when I had to play the weakest guy in the room — partially deaf, overweight — that I felt somewhat liberated,” he told The New York Times. The role allowed him to step away from the muscular action-hero image that had defined so much of his career.It also made him realise just how much he had put his body through.
Sylvester Stallone regrets doing his own stunts
Sylvester Stallone still works out and wants to remain physically active, but he no longer sees his body in quite the same way. He admitted that maintaining his action-star image and performing his own stunts came with a price that he now wishes he had avoided.“If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts,’” Stallone said. “I don’t know what it was about hurting myself all the time.”The actor’s comments come just days before the release of his memoir ‘The Steps’, which looks back at his life, career and the experiences that shaped him. After decades of playing some of Hollywood’s toughest characters, Stallone is now reflecting on what it actually took to build and maintain that image.
