Sylvester Stallone says getting into Rocky-level shape came at a serious cost — including bulimia, steroid use and years of physical damage.
In a new interview with The New York Timespromoting his memoir The Steps, out September 29, the actor, 79, recalled how he began treating his body like “armor” while playing Rocky and Rambo.
“I started to think: Design your body like a jaguar, a cat. Not big like Arnold [Schwarzenegger], but more feral and aggressive and very limber and athletic,” he said.
But the pursuit of that look spiraled while filming Rocky III.
“Then it became an obsession. Really bad. It got to the point where I became bulimic. You heard it here first,” Stallone said, adding that he reached 2.6 percent body fat and struggled to keep food down.
Asked if steroids were part of the transformation, Stallone confirmed: “Oh, my God, you have to. But you do it in a sensitive way — six weeks on, six weeks off.” He also acknowledged the toll it took.
A change came with 1997’s Cop Land, where he played “the weakest guy in the room — partially deaf, overweight.” “It wasn’t until I did Cop Land […] that I felt somewhat liberated,” he said.
Stallone also detailed a long list of injuries, including nine back operations, two shoulder operations and three neck fusions.
“Everything is held together with baling wire, but I still want to stay in good shape.”
Looking back, he wishes he’d made different choices: “If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts,’” he said.
2026-09-27 13:02:00
