Starting out as an adult film actor, after five decades in Hollywood, Sylvester Stallone became the “soul” of three major action film series – Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables.

This December, the actor will return to Vietnamese audiences in the action blockbuster Rambo: Last Blood (Vietnamese name: Rambo: Bloody End) – the 5th and final part in the film series.

Famous for the character Rambo. Sylvester continued to participate in writing, directing and starring in the film. 

This time, the story revolves around Rambo’s journey to Mexico to rescue his adopted daughter who was kidnapped and forced into prostitution. What will happen? Can Rambo rescue his adopted daughter? 

Everything starts out difficult

Before his current success, the Italian actor went through a series of events and challenges.

 Born in 1946 in New York, Sylvester had an unusual appearance and was partially paralyzed on the left side of his face because doctors used birthing forceps to pull him away from his mother’s body. 

When he was 11 years old, his parents divorced, causing the actor to collapse and become spoiled. 

His son was often expelled from school and had rebellious actions. Sylvester’s father sent him back to be raised by his biological mother in Philadelphia at the age of 15.

 Here, the teenager began to exercise, play sports and act in plays in school clubs. He received a university scholarship for acting in Switzerland and went to Europe to study.

In 1969, Sylvester dropped out of school and returned to New York with the dream of becoming an actor.

 He worked a variety of jobs to make ends meet, while also finding auditions for B-grade plays on Broadway. 

Sylvester’s first film role was in the 1970 erotic film The Party at Kitty and Stud’s.

“I cannot do otherwise. The landlord just evicted me because he couldn’t pay the rent. 

Either accept that project or rob to make ends meet,” the actor recalled a difficult period in his life with Playboy magazine in 2011.

He said he received a salary of 200 USD for two days of filming. porn, the first role in her career.

Bored with supporting roles, Sylvester turned to writing screenplays. In 1975, he went to watch the boxing match between Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali. 

He and many spectators were surprised when the anonymous boxer Chuck could last 15 rounds against Ali – the top boxer at that time. 

This guy came up with the idea of ​​portraying the image of a weak boxer who overcomes himself and the Rocky script was born.

Sylvester brought his first brainchild to the studios, asking for the conditions to star. Many producers were interested in Rocky but hesitated to request the author. 

Sylvester refused $350,000 to buy the screenplay because the company wanted to find more famous actors. 

The project only became a reality when two filmmakers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler ventured to invest. 

Rocky (1976) tells about the Italian-American boxer of the same name. He comes from a debt collector background but has a kind heart.

He joined local boxing clubs and was invited to compete with Apollo Creed – the world’s top boxer.

 Rocky made Creed go through a dramatic 15-round fight because of his ability to persist and refuse to give up.

 Despite losing due to scoring rules, the anonymous boxer received respect from the arrogant boxer Creed when the bell rang.

The film received three Oscar nominations and won three categories: best film, director and editing. Sylvester personally received two nominations for best male lead and best original screenplay.

 He is the third person in history to achieve this achievement, after Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator) and Orson Welles (Citizen Kane).

Rocky’s “gamble” made Sylvester the most promising action star in Hollywood in the 1970s, invited to star in many big projects such as FIST and Cobra. 

He also continued to be successful in writing, directing and starring in sequels to the Rocky series.

The older spicy ginger

After his once-in-a-lifetime role as Rocky, Sylvester continued to make the Hollywood action movie industry fall in love with the character Rambo in the movie First Blood. 

This time, he transformed into the character of a veteran who had been trained on the battlefield.

 The film is based on the book of the same name by author David Morrell, grossing more than 125 million USD worldwide from an initial budget of more than 15 million USD.

 Unlike the inspirational hero Rocky, Rambo started out as a type of anti-hero character.

In the first film, he was portrayed as a mentally unstable veteran who was mistreated by the local police and became a rebel. 

Images of Rambo blowing up gas stations, shooting bullets at police stations or confronting national security forces turned him into a favorite character.

 However, later films built Rambo into a hero with extraordinary strength, fighting and performing missions to protect America.           

Rambo’s rugged, rugged appearance and violent method of solving all problems have made their mark in American popular culture.

 The character’s name becomes a common noun, referring to people who are reckless, strong and not afraid to venture into dangerous places alone. 

Rambo comes to spiritual life with a series of cartoon versions, comics and toys for children.

Like many Hollywood stars, Sylvester faced the risk of running out of time when many projects in the early 2000s failed.

 He decided to take a three-year break before returning to take over Rambo (2008), participating in directing and writing the main script for the series.

 Most of the projects he participates in help movie studios “make money”. The total revenue of the films Sylvester starred in is more than 3.9 billion USD – among the group of the most popular movie stars in the world.

Since 2010, Sylvester has continued to invest in the series The Expendables (Vietnamese name: The Expendables) which he directed, wrote and starred in. 

The series brings together the top stars in the action film industry, achieving revenue of more than 800 million USD after three films.

Along with Rambo: Last Blood, Sylvester also plans the fourth part of The Expendables, which currently has no filming date set. In addition, the actor also achieved much commercial success as an actor and wrote the script for the Creed series, a spin-off of Rocky.

During five decades in Hollywood, Sylvester Stallone still shines and shows no signs of slowing down. At the age of 73, fights or injuries from filming do not discourage the actor.

 For action stars, getting audiences to remember a specific character is a challenge. As for Sylvester, he still has a “headache” if he has to choose one of the three characters Rocky, Rambo or Barney Ross to represent his glorious career.