Sylvester Stallone gave fans a rare behind-the-scenes look at the grueling physical preparation that went into making it. Rocky.
He shared a throwback video on Instagram that captures him and the late Carl Weathers painstakingly working on every punch and drop before the cameras rolled.
The 79-year-old released the images on Wednesday with a reflection on what it really took to bring the iconic underdog boxer to life.
“Before Rocky stepped into the ring on screen, there were hours like this,” he wrote.
“Rehearsal. Footwork. Timing. Getting hit and getting back up. I wrote the script in three and a half days, but the physical work took months. Nothing was accidental. If you want it to feel real, you have to live it.”
The video itself is a fascinating watch.
In it, Stallone and Weathers, who played Apollo Creed, meticulously block every move, with Stallone calling out instructions between takes like a director and a fighter at the same time.
At one point, he said to Weathers, “So, I’m a little hurt. You stung me with the punches,” before throwing himself against the strings after a pulled punch, complaining with a smile that the strings looked like “guitar wires.”
He told Weathers exactly where to throw his punches, “left, right,” before throwing himself 180 degrees into the ropes again, explaining that he wanted to catch them as they fell.
Carl Weathers, who appeared in several Rocky films like the charismatic and formidable Apollo Creed, who died in February 2024.
The images are a warm tribute to their chemistry and a reminder of how much craftsmanship and physical commitment lie behind one of cinema’s most enduring sports stories.
