Sylvester Stallone spoke Wednesday about the grueling and physically demanding work it took to make the fight scenes in Rocky look authentic.
“There was a time like this before Rocky was on screen,” the 79-year-old wrote on his Instagram, while sharing a video of Stallone and Apollo Creed actor Carl Weathers practicing boxing choreography.
“Repetitions, footwork, timing,” he added. “When you get hit, you get back up. We wrote the script in three and a half days, but the physical labor took months. Nothing was an accident. If you want it to feel real, you have to live it.”
In the throwback video, Stallone and Weathers figure out each punch and fall, with Stallone telling his co-star, “So, I’m a little hurt. Your jab stung me.”
Later, after Weathers gave a fake punch, he threw himself onto the ropes and told his co-stars that they needed to get closer to the edge of the ring because he wanted to “fly into the ropes” and grab his hands on the ropes as he fell.
“These ropes are like guitar wire,” he joked.
“Left, right,” he told Weathers where to throw his punches, before throwing himself 180 degrees toward the ropes again.
“Now, let’s hang,” Sylvester continued, explaining that the camera needed to be placed low to see Rocky from a ground perspective. “When he wakes up, the bell rings. Karl raises his hand.”
“Repetition. Footwork. Timing. Get up when you get hit. We wrote the script in three and a half days, but the heavy lifting took months. Nothing was an accident. If you want it to feel authentic, you have to live it.” — Sylvester Stallone
Additionally, Rocky explained that he should be picked up by the team, have water thrown in his face, and be told, “‘Why didn’t you take bookkeeping in high school?'”
Weathers then threw more punches, and Stallone advised the late “Happy Gilmore” actor to “hurt him” and “throw it to the left, then to the right,” causing Stallone to throw himself to the ground.
Stallone then continued to tell Weathers what kind of jab he should use, joking, “Beat me! Beat me! I love it!” He finally took a few punches of his own and they both fell down laughing. ”
Stallone was flooded with compliments from fans for his approach to his first role, including one from comedian David Spade who wrote, “V cool.”
Last month, Stallone shared a post of himself in the gym, admitting he hadn’t been to the gym in “a long time.”
“In a way, this is like a sanctuary, a church. We pray for you to get well, to get well. So you have the strength to reach your goals with real confidence, and you are ready to face any difficulties,” he said.
He added in the caption, “Every year it gets harder and harder. But that’s why we have to work harder and harder. Blood, sweat and tears.”
Rocky won three Oscars in 1977 for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Editing, and Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
During the filming of 1985’s Rocky IV, Stallone suffered a broken rib during a legendary fight scene with co-star Dolph Lundgren.
“I didn’t know that happened. We both got beat up in that fight,” Lundgren told Fox & Friends last year. “We shot for two weeks in Vancouver, then came back to L.A. and…the producer called me and said, ‘Hey Dolph, you’ve got two weeks off.’ I said, “Wow, what’s going on?” “Sly is in the hospital,” I learned. ”
Lundgren, who played Russian strongman Ivan Drago, admitted he was surprised by the news.
“I felt a little bit guilty. You know, he hit me too. He was the boss. I did what he said. It was good. Use your body and go really hard, you know that Russian uppercut. I don’t know if it’s because of my body, if it’s fatigue, if it’s because of the punch. I don’t know, but he got hurt. I feel bad about that,” he said.
