The plot of 'Rocky' is one full of overcoming obstacles—but much of the real fight in this story happened offscreen.
In 'I Play Rocky', audiences will get to unpack the true tale of how the iconic film franchise got its story and more importantly, its star.
With director Peter Farrelly’s film, audiences are taken back to the early days of Sylvester Stallone, a struggling actor with a big dream and very few opportunities.
After being prompted by his wife, Sasha (AnnaSophia Robb), Stallone channels his own experiences into a screenplay about an underdog boxer named Rocky Balboa. The writing part comes easy… it’s the star power that the producers are worried about when Stallone insists on playing the title role.
Starring Anthony Ippolito as a young Stallone, the film also features Matt Dillon as Stallone’s father, Frank Stallone Sr., and Stephan James as Carl Weathers (who would later portray Apollo Creed in 'Rocky'). P.J. Byrne and Toby Kebbell round out the cast as producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, but audiences will also get to see characters like Adrian (Kiki Seto as Talia Shire) and Jay Duplass as film director John G. Avildsen in the feature.
As aforementioned, back in the 70s, Stallone was adamant that the film would be sold under one condition: He plays Rocky. After the studio learns this, they try to throw everything from more money and filming stunts at the young hopeful to get him to back down. Luckily, the part of Rocky in this story was a little easier for Ippolito to nab than it was for Stallone back in 1975.
For 'I Play Rocky', Stallone specifically requested a lesser-known actor for the role, a choice he felt was important to the project. The team had planned to begin a search after the Cannes Film Festival; fortunately, Ippolito submitted a self-tape, presenting an unexpected opportunity.
“I’ll never forget the text I got when Sly saw the tape. He said this is not an impersonation… this is a performance,” notes producer Toby Emmerich at a press conference for the film.
Ippolito’s self-tape had clearly made an impression, but capturing Stallone’s mannerisms was only part of the challenge. To portray the actor authentically, he also needed to understand the man behind the character.
“We got to speak about a month beforehand, and by that point I had already done so much of my own research that it had really been built up—he was so sweet,” says Ippolito. “I was, of course, intimidated and nervous, but he was so open and generous and willing to share on that time in his life.
"Before all this stuff happened, it was pretty dark for him and a pretty lonely road. It was a vulnerable thing to be able to share that and I just really appreciated his vulnerability.”
For screenwriter Peter Gamble, he recognized a familiar struggle in Stallone’s story as well —the frustration of having something meaningful to offer but fighting to be seen.
“I think when you have something personal that connects you to something that unlocks your emotions— it makes it a little easier," says Gamble. "I’ve been doing this for 30 years, struggling, trying to keep it together. I started out my career ghostwriting something that got some awards, but no one knew I had anything to do with... and there were some other things I was associated with where I helped, and no one knew I had anything to do with it."
“So I had this weird feeling that people saw my stuff up on screen and they love stuff I contributed too, but they didn’t see me. When I was talking to my manager about something to write and he mentioned Stallone’s story — there was this little pop in my heart. I thought that’s the one, because I connected to him and that feeling like he had something to offer the universe, but nobody [else] saw it.”
Connection is at the core of this story. Jay Duplass notes he immediately fell in love with the first ‘Rocky’ film when it came out, which led him to fight for the role in this particular feature. And P.J. Byrne was able to use Stallone's story to shape his own as well.
“It’s very meta, it’s like life imitating art. I’ve gotta give a lot of credit to these two gentlemen, Toby and Peter (Farrelly). I’ve worked with them before. The idea that there is no small parts…they remembered me and gave me a shot. This is the biggest part I’ve ever had in a film, so I owe them everything—and I wanted to imbue that,” Byrne notes.
“I wanted to look at Anthony (Ippolito) not only as a person, but these guys look at him like a son, and they’re willing to do anything and everything like anyone would do for their kids. That was the ultimate journey in my mind; to literally look at that kid like a son. When you watch the end of the film and you see Irwin pull Sylvester Stallone up and the way he puts his arm around him—there is so much love [between them] because they believed in [Sylvester] and they believed in this product. That’s the message… if you do the work and you surround yourself with like-minded people that believe in you, truly anything is possible. We really need to know that today.”
'I Play Rocky' opens in select theaters Nov. 6, and expands to theaters everywhere Nov. 20.
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