Most athletes decide to give up professional competition by the time they reach their mid-30s. Tinseltown favourite Sylvester Stallone isn't the kind of man to go down without a fight, though, and he apparently doesn't see any reason why his most celebrated character should do so either.
The silver screen veteran, who has kept a relatively low profile in the last few years, made a dramatic return to the limelight on Wednesday when he presented his new film. Appropriately enough, the flick tells the story of a spectacular comeback, as the actor, who recently turned 60, reprises his role as boxing champ Rocky Balboa.
And Sly wasn't the only Hollywood hardman in attendance for the premiere, as he got some heavyweight support from fellow screen veterans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Movie bombshell Sharon Stone, who starred with him in the 1994 thriller The Specialist, also went along the screening, along with his wife Jennifer Flavin and daughters Sistine and Sophia.
The premise of a 50-something pugilist winning the championship of the world may seem a little unlikely, but the flick's leading man wasn't afraid to admit he took some hard knocks in making the movie. He managed to prove his mettle by sparring with real-life fighter Antonio Tarver, who swapped the ring for the movie set to play Sly's nemesis Mason Dixon.
"It was rough, because Antonio is a real fighter who doesn't really follow staged choreography. So we decided to throw the choreography out the window," revealed Sylvester. "That was fine, but it meant that I had to catch a lot of shots. A few of those knockdowns in the film were for real. At one point, I thought I'd be in a wheelchair by the time I finished this movie!"
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
