Before Rocky became one of the most beloved sports movies of all time, Sylvester Stallone was an unknown actor with a script, a dream and a determination to play the leading role himself.
Now, Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly revisits that extraordinary journey in I Play Rocky, a film exploring the unlikely story behind the making of the 1976 classic that transformed Stallone into a Hollywood star.
In an exclusive interview with Cup of Soul Show, Farrelly discusses bringing Stallone's early struggles to the screen, the determination it took to get Rocky made and why the story continues to resonate nearly 50 years later.
Hit play below
The original Rocky wasn't simply a boxing movie. It was a story about an underdog fighting for an opportunity when the odds were stacked against him. Behind the camera, Stallone was living a version of that same struggle, refusing to surrender the starring role in the screenplay he had written.
For Farrelly, whose credits include the Academy Award-winning Green Book, I Play Rocky offers an opportunity to revisit one of Hollywood's most enduring success stories from a different perspective.
What does it take to bet on yourself when Hollywood doesn't believe in you?
That question sits at the heart of I Play Rocky, a film about ambition, creative ownership and the determination to turn rejection into opportunity.
Watch our exclusive conversation with Peter Farrelly as we discuss the making of I Play Rocky and the real-life story that helped create a cinematic legend.
