Writing “Is a Miserable Means of Existence”: Sylvester Stallone Remains Brutally Honest as He Explains How He Wrote Rocky in Forgotten Interview With His Daughters

The Rocky franchise has grossed over $1.4 billion at the box office, thus becoming one of the most popular franchises of all time. Before the very first movie of Rocky hit the theatres, Sylvester Stallone was an unknown actor with a minor role in The Lords of Flatbush, and as far as his financial success went, he had $106 in his account, with no car. He even had to sell his dog in order to pay rent. But then one night changed everything, on March 24th, 1975, Stallone decided to visit Richfield Coliseum and out there he witnessed ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali against the “supposed stumblebum”, Chuck Wepner. Although, Wepner was practically a nobody, in that fight he managed to knock down Ali.

This became the inspiration for his movie, Rocky, and that’s how he got inspired by an idea of an underdog, Rocky Balboa, standing up against the magnificent boxer, Apollo Creed. Well, Stallone also firmly believes that Rocky is “not a sports film”.

Nonetheless, after the fight, he instantly went back home and started penning down the story on paper. He was done with a 90-page draft in just 3 days. Many couldn’t believe he wrote it so early, as Rocky‘s story is considered to be one of the most motivational ones out there. But in a resurfaced video clip, Stallone reveals his writing process and how he managed to complete the first draft in just 72 hours.

Sylvester Stallone sheds light on his writing process during Rocky

Sylvester Stallone appeared on his daughters, Sophia Stallone and Sistine Stallone‘s podcast, Unwaxed, almost a year ago. And one of his segments has been going viral on the internet, where Stallone is talking about his routine during Rocky‘s writing session. So, during their conversation, Sophia asked Stallone if he had actually painted all of his windows black.

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Stallone replied, “Yeah I did paint them black because I don’t want to know what time it is, it didn’t matter what time it was.” The Rambo actor believed that it was a distraction whenever he knew that it was time for breakfast or some other thing. He had decided that he would have breakfast whenever he was hungry.

Stallone further elaborated on why he did so, he said, “I was trying to eliminate all the excuses because it’s hard to write. You’re looking for any reason, please, someone call. That’s why I took the phone out. But writing, I’ll tell you right now, is a miserable means of existence. It is terrible.” Stallone also stated that he didn’t like anything about his writing journey, and he understands why most writers look like they’re “worn out” and “tired“.

Despite the exhaustion, no matter how much toll it took on Stallone, he completed the script in just a few days. Although, it was only the first draft, but still ‘Sly’ used 30% of it. So, the world may know that Ali fought against Wepner but we’d have never predicted Rocky Balboa being birthed like this. What are your thoughts about this inspiring anecdote? Let us know in the comments section.

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