Sylvester Stallone Opens up About Health Battles He Faced While Filming ‘Rocky’ Movies 

Nearly a decade after his last Rocky appearance, Sylvester Stallone reflects on the health struggles he faced while filming his most famous franchise. 

During his recent interview with The New York Times, Stallone said he was privately battling bulimia while filming his Rocky films. 

“I looked at Rocky [like he was a] very smooth, very normal-looking guy. And then I said, ‘I think the character would start to become a bit more vain,’” he recalled. “So, 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.”

Stallone noted he became obsessed with his body image, which led to him becoming bulimic. 

“I got down to 2.6 percent body fat when I was doing Rocky III,” he continued. “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. Nobody does it without additives and drugs, period. I don’t care what they say.” 

Stallone went on to reveal that he used steroids to keep his body image. 

“It isn’t as though you’re a junkie, but if you’re going to work out and try to stay in shape for six months straight, and you’re eating yogurt and pudding, it’s not happening,” he said. “You [use steroids] in a sensitive way: six weeks on, six weeks off. People go, ‘Oh, you don’t get that way naturally.’ No, you don’t, but that also took a terrible toll.” 

However, Stallone didn’t realize the negative side effects of steroids until after starring in his 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 pointed out. “Yeah, I’ve abused my body. I’ve had nine back operations, two shoulder operations, three neck fusions. Everything is held together with baling wire, but I still want to stay in good shape.” 

In regards to how he feels about his body now, at the age of 80, Stallone added, “I’m sort of fit, but I take a lot of pills to keep going. It’s come at a terrible price. If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts.’ I don’t know what it was about hurting myself all the time.”