Anthony Ippolito says landing the lead role in Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” took repeated attempts. To audition as Sylvester Stallone, he first made a video focused on capturing Stallone’s physicality and movement as a boxer, then continued sending in tapes after he received the script. Ippolito said he was passionate about the project, though at the time he worried the casting team might think he seemed “crazy.”
The film follows Stallone at a turning point in his career, as he tries to play the lead in “Rocky,” the screenplay he wrote. According to the story described in the interview, MGM offered Stallone increasingly large sums to step aside from the role. He ultimately held firm and played Rocky.
Ippolito prepared by repeatedly watching Stallone’s work, concentrating on a particular period in the actor’s career. He singled out “Rocky Balboa” as one of the franchise’s best films and praised Stallone’s performance. He also revisited “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” as part of his research.
About a month before filming, Ippolito met Stallone, who he said was generous and willing to discuss what that period had been like. The conversation focused in part on how Stallone developed Rocky as a writer. Ippolito said hearing Stallone explain his thinking about scripts and characters helped him understand the actor’s work and the personal importance of the screenplay.
Ippolito also reflected on what Stallone’s experience might mean for actors starting out. He pointed to the support Stallone received from Sasha, played by AnnaSophia Robb in the film, saying that people pursuing a difficult goal may need someone to encourage them to believe in themselves.
Amazon MGM Studios is set to release “I Play Rocky” in select theaters on November 6, followed by a wide release on November 20.
Sources: IndieWire.