Before Rocky was an Oscar-winning franchise, it was a screenplay an unknown, broke actor wrote in three days.“I Play Rocky”tells that story: studios wanted the script, they didn’t want Sylvester Stallone in the lead, and he turned them all down. Directed by Peter Farrelly and written by Peter Gamble, the film opens in select theaters November 6 and nationwide November 20.
Anthony Ippolito steps into Stallone’s shoes, with AnnaSophia Robb as his first wife Sasha, Kiki Seto as Talia Shire/Adrian, and Stephan James as Carl Weathers/Apollo Creed. The cast has been open about the pressure of portraying real people, and Robb says without Sasha, there would be no Rocky, really. She was his first fan and the one who typed those pages.
Faith runs underneath the whole story. Stallone has spoken about his Catholic upbringing and a spiritual reawakening, and he credits God, not himself, for the film’s Oscar success. The movie does contain some foul language worth noting, but the persistence story lands for anyone who’s ever chased something big. Whose early belief in you made the difference?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.