Sylvester Stallone reveals his rock bottom: ‘I couldn’t look at my daughters’ | Films

A Hollywood superstar doesn’t live on successes alone. The crisis is inherent to any professional: famous or not, the lack of opportunities is possible, and threatens the careers of many. It was no different with Sylvester Stallone, who during the 2000s went through a terrible phase of few opportunities and many disappointments. About the terrible period, the star told his daughters Sophia (27 years old) and Sistine (25 years old) on their podcast, ‘Unwaxed’, that he felt so ashamed that he couldn’t even look them, then children, in the eyes.

He is also the father of Scarlet (21 years old); the three of them are currently in a relationship with Jennifer Flavin. From his first marriage, the artist had Sage (who tragically passed away in 2012, aged 36) and Seargeoh (45 years old).

Sylvester Stallone was very successful in the 1980s and was one of the best-known people in the world; this is not unquestionable. With the film that launched his career, ‘Rocky: A Wrestler’, in 1976, Sly (as his family and friends call him) went on to have some of the biggest hits of his career.

He continued as the boxer in a franchise that accumulated more and more box office knockouts and also played the war veteran in ‘Rambo: Programmed to Kill’ and its sequels, as well as the police officer Cobra in ‘Stallone Cobra’. No failures, to the delight of studios and producers.

Part of the 1990s was also fruitful for the star: he continued with new chapters of his successful franchises and tried other projects as well. It was Judge Joseph Dredd in ‘The Judge’ (adaptation of the comics before the MCU was even created and the universe of superheroes became a rage in Hollywood), police officer John Spartan from ‘Daredevil’ (in which he appeared together with Wesley Snipes), starred with Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Harvey Keitel in ‘Cop Land’, considered his most serious work so far, and also made special appearances in other productions such as the animation ‘Formiguinhaz’ and ‘MIB – Men in Black’ , voicing an uncredited alien.

His success might no longer be the same, but he had no shortage of work.

In the 2000s, however, the crisis knocked on the door once and for all, and opportunities were almost nil. An appearance there, another here…but nothing that would take his name to the top of Hollywood again. During the early years of the new millennium, Sylvester Stallone seemed to be forgotten. And that didn’t please him at all.

“I was ashamed to be your father,” he simply said to his daughters. “I felt worthless. You didn’t even know what I did for a living; ‘He’s just going around depressed,'” he added, quite sincerely.

The girls, even though they were too young to fully understand the situation, say they remember their father’s difficult time well. They report that he “watched movies all day.”

From the end of the 1990s until the mid-2000s it was like this: living at home, without much to do.

Stallone sometimes made appearances in productions that were far from perfect. In 2000 he starred in ‘The Relentless’, a film about a mobster who discovers that his brother’s death was not accidental — and continues to seek revenge for those responsible for the crime.

No need to state the obvious: the remake of a 1970s film starring Michael Caine was a commercial disaster. It earned around 19 million dollars, with a cost of over 60 million. For critics, it was clear that it was a bomb (of the worst kind).

In the following years, the tone was the same. The 2001 title ‘High Speed’ followed Stallone as a veteran racer who accompanies a motorsport newcomer. Called ‘Rocky with cars’, this was another disaster in the actor’s career. Once again, he spent much more than he earned, generating a huge loss for the studios that financed the work. It was one mistake after another for the unstoppable interpreter of the unstoppable boxer.

In the thriller ‘D-Tox’, Stallone plays a traumatized police officer sent to a rehabilitation clinic to learn how to overcome the psychological consequences of witnessing a brutal crime. Little by little, the refuge becomes a true nightmare. An unmemorable film, to say the least. Also, the same recipe followed: the film failed to attract public attention and was completely shunned by specialized critics.

In ‘Spy Kids 3D’, in 2003, he made the mistake of playing the supervillain Toymaker. Although remembered by younger generations as a childhood memory, it is easy to say that this is in no way one of the reasons to be proud of the star, who went on to attend the biggest cinema awards – Sly was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for the first ‘Rocky’, it’s good to remember.

Only three years later, returning to his origins with the touching ‘Rocky Balboa’, the paths seem to have opened up again for him. The actor’s return for the sixth chapter of the franchise ended up being much more than successful: almost 160 million at the box office, in addition to great reviews.

In the film, Rocky emerges from retired life to confront an opponent who is stronger, faster and younger than him. Still revered today, the film features some of the best moments of the entire saga, as well as presenting us with the boxer’s moving monologue to his son, which features the iconic ‘No one will hit as hard as life, but the point is not It’s how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Simply an incredible success and one that the actor and director considers the best work of his career.

Thus, Stallone regained his strength and returned to the cinema with everything. There were several appearances, the most influential being the ‘Expendables’ franchise, which began in 2010, as well as appearances in Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and in the ‘Rocky’ spin-off, the ‘Creed’ franchise, starring by Michael B. Jordan as the son of former rival Apollo Creed.

In the film, Rocky trains Adonis for the career that his father and his rival followed during their lives. Both films were commercial and critical hits. For the first of them, another Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor.

Now, at 77 years old, Stallone leads a calm life, but still surrounded by cameras. He stars alongside his family in the reality show ‘The Family Stallone’, in addition to recently releasing the documentary ‘Sly’, which tells about his personal life and career, in an intimate and very detailed way.

But he is not without problems, of course, being accused of bad behavior during the recording of the series ‘Tulsa King’, during the recording of the second season – a case that is being monitored by the producer and the actors’ union.

In any case, it is a fact that we have completely overcome the moment of forgetfulness. Sly is (and will always be) a cinema icon, no matter how much time passes.

Check out the trailers for the failures of Sylvester Stallone’s “rock bottom” period below. And then, review the trailer for ‘Rocky Balboa’, which marked his return to stardom.

‘The Relentless’ (2000)

‘High Speed’ (2001)

‘D-Tox’ (2002)

‘3D Spy Kids’ (2003)

‘Rocky Balboa’ (2006)

*Edited by Luís Alberto Nogueira