I am watching Rocky as I type this, and as I watch it, it occurs to me that this film was Stallone's big break. He wrote the movie after living in poverty trying to make it in the entertainment industry. After he wrote it, he was able to garner interest in it as a screenplay. However, Stallone would not sell it to a studio unless he was cast as Rocky Balboa. At this time, Sylvester Stallone had penned one or two screenplays that sold, but weren't blockbuster movies, and he had acted in maybe one or two films, so he wasn't known as a movie star. By demanding that he be cast as Rocky, he was putting himself at a serious disadvantage, and was risking his big break. He was told that he was a writer, and not an actor, but nonetheless decided to stick to his guns and insist that he be cast as Rocky or else he wouldn't sell the screenplay.
Finally, he was able to persuade the movie studio and producers by accepting much less money than his original offer, and thereby accepting some of the risk that the movie would be less successful with him as the lead. So by the time the movie began production, Sylvester Stallone was by no means an established actor, and had most likely drawn the ire of several movie stars and producers who would have wanted the role of Rocky Balboa to be given to a more prestigious actor at the the time.
For anyone to go through such a tense emotional ride such as this would be a nightmare, and many would have taken the money for the screenplay, especially given the financial troubles Stallone was going through as he tried to make it in Hollywood. Stallone, however, was able to overlook all of these insanely stressful barriers and give the performance of a lifetime as the lead in Rocky. If you really think about it, that is nothing short of extraordinary. Here's a guy who is given a big break as a writer, and demands to be an actor too, risking his big break as a writer. Then, he is given the opportunity to act in the movie he wrote, and instead of freezing up or psyching himself out and panicking, he delivers the perofrmance of a lifetime in one of the best movies ever made.
There must have been times during the production of Rocky, when Sylvester Stallone realized that if the movie tanked, or his performance was sub-par, he would never be given the opportunity to star ina feature film again. And yet, his acting in the movie was so good that many people immediately associate Sylvester Stallone with Rocky Balboa.
Stallone knew what he had to do and when he had to do it. He didn't let his mind or his fear hurt him, but rather he used his emotions to make the character of Rocky Balboa come to life in all of our hearts and minds. That is what I call the Stallone Factor, and that is why he is so awesome.
If any representative of Mr. Stallone would like to comment on this or give any feedback, it is always appreciated.
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