Sylvester Stallone has admitted he developed bulimia while filming Rocky III, and that he used steroids throughout his career to build the physique that made him famous. The actor spoke openly about his physical transformation in a Saturday interview with the New York Times promoting his new memoir, The Steps, out Sept. 29.
Stallone said his relationship with his body became intimate and obsessive during the height of the Rocky and Rambo franchises. He designed his physique like a jaguar, aiming for a lean, athletic look rather than the massive bulk of Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the discipline turned into a problem.
Stallone’s Body As Armor
Stallone described his early approach to his physique in the interview. He wanted Rocky to look smooth and normal, then more vain in later films. Rambo called for something more animalistic.
He got down to 2.6 percent body fat while making Rocky III. That level of fitness came with a cost.
Bulimia During Rocky III
Stallone said the pursuit of that body became an obsession, and he developed bulimia as a result.
“Then it became an obsession. Really bad. It got to the point where I became bulimic,” he said. “You heard it here first. I got down to 2.6 percent body fat when I was doing Rocky III, and I couldn’t hold anything down. Or I didn’t want to keep it down because I became so obsessed with staying at that point of fitness, literally an obsessive body-worship kind of thing.”
He said nobody achieves that level of fitness without additives and drugs.
The Steroid Question
When asked directly about steroids, Stallone confirmed he was taking them.
“Oh, my God, you have to. But you do it in a sensitive way — six weeks on, six weeks off,” he said. “People go, ‘Oh, you don’t get that way naturally.’ No, you don’t. But that also took a terrible toll.”
He noted the physical cost of the regimen.
Cop Land Changed Everything
Stallone said his perspective shifted when he played a weakened, overweight character in the 1997 film Cop Land.
“It wasn’t until I did Cop Land, when I had to play the weakest guy in the room — partially deaf, overweight — that I felt somewhat liberated,” he said. “Then things went sideways and I just fell out of grace with Hollywood.”
The change in roles showed him what a break from his usual image felt like.
The Toll On His Body
Stallone listed a long record of surgeries tied to his demanding career.
- Nine back operations
- Two shoulder operations
- Three neck fusions
He described his body as held together with baling wire.
Regret For What He Did
Looking back, Stallone said he no longer views his physique as the armor it once was. He wishes he had treated his body differently.
“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. “I don’t know what it was about hurting myself all the time.”
Key Facts
- Stallone admitted bulimia during filming of Rocky III
- Got down to 2.6 percent body fat
- Confirmed steroid use: six weeks on, six weeks off
- Memoir The Steps out Sept. 29
- Surgeries: nine back, two shoulder, three neck fusions
Stallone’s career was built on a body he now regrets. He is telling the world how he got there.
Source material: “Sylvester Stallone Says He Became Bulimic While Filming ‘Rocky’ Movies, Used Steroids,” The Hollywood Reporter.
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