Sylvester Stallone is not looking for pity. The action star spoke in a new interview with The New York Times about a childhood marked by abandonment, violence and a near-total lack of affection. He said he intentionally left out some of his most painful memories in his book because he didn't want readers to feel sorry for him.
"I didn't include a lot of things in the book because I didn't want it to look like a pleading for regret... But it was crazy," he admits.
After his parents' divorce, Stallone lived with his father in Maryland for a while. According to him, his father was short-tempered and physically abusive.
"The next thing you know, bam! He had really big hands. You just learn to bend over a little bit."
One particular memory stands out in the actor's mind. The Hollywood star says his father sent him to the store before church to buy bread. On the way, Stallone met some friends and came back with a loaf of walnut bread.
"He kicked me in the stomach, punched me, literally knocked me down, then got in the car and drove to church."
Stallone was left lying on the street. "It's really unbelievable. It's unbelievable," he says.
Years later, the actor confronted his father. When he was about 40, he said to him, "I wish you and I were the same age for just three minutes." His father asked him why, and Stallone replied, "Because I want to give you back some of your own medicine so you know what it's like to get your ass kicked."
According to Stallone, his father immediately challenged him to a fight. "At 68, he was ready to fight," the actor explains.
The "Rocky" star attributes this ferocity to one of his most recognizable characters.
"When people ask, "Where do you get that rage to play Rambo?" the answer is: genetics," he says.
Stallone also recalls that his mother never showed him affection.
"My mother never, and my brother will attest to this, never hugged me. "Never, never," he says.
His father also rarely showed tenderness. However, when Stallone was about 9 years old, he fell asleep in the car after helping with his father's horses. Then the man put his son's head on his knee and put his hand on his head.
"And I never forgot it," the actor admits.
Earlier in the interview, Stallone said that when he was very young, he was sent to live in a boarding house, and his parents visited him only once a month.
"I was practically raised by strangers in a boarding house. It gradually became something natural. My parents were never really nurturing, so it was even better than where I lived."
Stallone admits that this emotional deprivation shaped the person he became. When asked if the experience made him tough, he replied: "In the wrong way, yes. It made me very tough."
Stallone subsequently built one of the most recognizable careers in Hollywood. He wrote the screenplay for "Rocky" and played the role of Rocky Balboa, and later became John Rambo. The first film "Rocky" received 10 "Oscar" nominations and won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Off-screen, Stallone has five children from two of his three marriages.
In 1974, he married his first wife, Sasha Csak. They divorced in 1985 and had two sons. Later that year, Stallone married his Rocky IV co-star, Brigitte Nielsen, but the couple divorced in 1987. In 1997, the actor married Jennifer Flavin. They have three daughters.
February 28, 2016 - Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin attend the 88th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood
Source: dir.bg