Sylvester Stallone Reflects on Struggles, Rocky, and a Lifetime of Emotional Healing

Sylvester Stallone is looking back on his life with honesty and pride. The 79-year-old actor says his journey to success was full of rejection, pain, and hard choices, but also determination.

While speaking with CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, Stallone recalled how difficult it was to get his dream project, Rocky, made.

At the time, Stallone was struggling financially and was still trying to make a name for himself. Studios liked the Rocky script, but they did not want him to star in it. Instead, they wanted to buy the script and cast a bigger star in the lead role.

“They kept raising the offer,” Stallone said. “It started at $20,000, then $80,000, then $160,000, then $360,000.”
That amount would be about $2.5 million today. Still, Stallone refused. “I couldn’t do it,” he said, because he believed the role belonged to him.

His decision paid off. Rocky became the highest-grossing movie of 1976 and went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

But success did not erase the emotional pain he carried.

Stallone admitted that winning an Oscar was a confusing and emotional moment. “It was a volcanic moment, and then it was very sad,” he said. He explained that his parents, who had denied him support earlier in life, did not want to attend the ceremony. “You realize you’re never ever going to come to terms with this,” he shared.

He spoke openly about how deeply childhood experiences can affect a person. “Kids are like soft clay,” Stallone said. “You shape them, you hurt them, and they’re never the same again.” He added that despite prayer and effort, the emotional scars remain. “I still walk around with it. I wish I couldn’t.”

In his 2023 Netflix documentary, Sly, Stallone also revealed the story behind his famous facial “snarl.” He explained that his mother went into labor while riding a bus, and a medical accident during birth caused partial facial paralysis.

The documentary also explores Stallone’s troubled childhood. He and his brother Frank recalled their parents’ constant fighting. Much of their youth was spent living in boarding houses rather than at home.

“The majority of the time, I was living in a boarding house,” Stallone said. “Basically 12 months a year. I never went home because they didn’t have time. They were both working.”

Today, Stallone says his life story carries an important lesson for parents and dreamers alike. His message is clear: belief, persistence, and emotional awareness matter just as much as talent.