Sylvester Stallone discussed the physical toll of his career during a promotional interview for his upcoming memoir, The Steps, scheduled for release later this month. The actor reflected on how his approach to his physique evolved across his most well-known film franchises, describing his body as a form of armor that changed alongside the characters he portrayed.
Stallone explained his deliberate approach to physical transformation, noting that he conceptualized different body types for different roles. For the Rocky films, he initially envisioned a more ordinary appearance, but gradually shifted toward a more imposing physique. For the Rambo franchise, he adopted what he described as a more aggressive, athletic aesthetic inspired by feline animals rather than the bulkier muscularity associated with other action stars of that era.
The actor acknowledged that his obsession with maintaining peak physical condition during the filming of Rocky III became severe enough that he developed bulimia. He revealed he achieved a body fat percentage of 2.6 percent and described struggling with the inability to retain food as his focus on fitness reached obsessive levels. When asked directly about steroid use, Stallone confirmed he used performance-enhancing drugs as part of a cycled regimen and stated that achieving such physiques without pharmaceutical assistance is not realistically possible.
Stallone indicated that his perspective on his body shifted when he accepted a role in Cop Land in 1997, playing a character physically weaker than those around him. This departure from his typical action hero roles provided what he characterized as a sense of liberation from the physical demands he had been imposing on himself. He noted that the decades of intense physical training and stunt work resulted in multiple surgical procedures, including nine back operations, shoulder surgeries, and neck fusions.
Reflecting on his career, Stallone expressed regret about his approach to physical performance and stated he would have made different choices regarding his body if given the opportunity to revisit his earlier decisions.
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