Anthony Ippolito had to do more than nail Sylvester Stallone’s signature voice to play him in “I Play Rocky.” He also had to transform his skinny physique to one with bulging muscles. I was being tested,” Ippolito told me Saturday at the AFI Fest “I Play Rocky” screening in Los Angeles. I had a great deal of time, so just an entire lifestyle shift and it was just one of the priorities of every day for a pretty long period.” As Ippolito previously told Variety’s Clayton Davis, he spent nearly two years bulking up from about 150 pounds to roughly 180 while training at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn.
Now considered one of the greatest films ever made, the odds were way more against Stallone than with him when he first pitched the movie in Hollywood. AnnaSophia Robb plays Stallone’s first wife, Sasha, in “I Play Rocky.” Stephan James portrays Carl Weathers. Rounding out the cast are Kiki Seto, P.J.
Byrne, Matt Dillon, Tracy Letts and Jay Duplass. If jitters on the first day of filming weren’t already enough to contend with, Ippolito’s first scenes were with a dog playing Stallone’s pooch Butkus. Stallone famously sold Butkus for $40 when before he found fame because he couldn’t afford to feed him.
After selling the “Rocky” script, he bought him back for $15,000. When you give him enough treats, then he started to warm up. But at that point he was, you know, a 140-, 160-pound dog [and] wasn’t a huge fan of me, so it kind of just added to it.
He just did whatever he wanted to do, and that was usually not what we were looking for him to do … In some ways they, they give you the most beautiful stuff. It’s just you gotta be patient.” “I Play Rocky” is in limited release on Nov. 6, followed by going wide on Nov. 20. See more photos from the “I Play Rocky” screening at AFI Fest below.
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