“I owe it all to you”: the scene Sylvester Stallone called the best acting of his career
Knowing what happened afterwards, multiple generations of filmgoers would have been left scratching their heads at hearing Sylvester Stallone and Marlon Brando mentioned in the same breath, but it happened.
Following the release of his breakthrough movie Rocky, Stallone was an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and actor, one who ended up dining out on the ‘Italian Stallion’ for the remainder of his career. He may have become an action icon, but for a while, the sky was the limit for his untapped potential as a thespian.
For his raw, naturalistic, and authentic portrayal of Rocky Balboa, many within the industry invoked the name of transformative method man Brando in celebration of Stallone’s achingly real performance, but he quickly decided that being a movie star was a much more suitable path than being an actor.
Bulking up and boasting biceps for days, it worked wonders when Stallone became one of action cinema’s two most potent forces alongside rival-turned-friend Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it also felt like he was allowing an opportunity to willingly slip through his fingers.
A second Oscar nomination for Creed and occasional dramatic showcases like Cop Land offered reminders of his gifts, but at the same time, he’s also the guy who notched 12 victories from 34 nods at the Golden Raspberry Awards, including ‘Worst Actor of the Century’ for the entire period between 1901 and 1999.
The Rambo franchise was particularly endemic of this trend, with the small-scale psychological thrill of the first instalment, First Blood, quickly swept under the rug in favour of the gun-toting bombast that defined the sequels. Stallone’s work in the opener remains up there with his finest, something the man himself was inclined to agree with.
“Do you remember the scene where the nasty state trooper falls out of the helicopter and dies?” director Ted Kotcheff asked Filmmaker Magazine. “I had Sylvester stop six or eight feet away from the trooper’s body and told him, ‘I’m going to do a close-up of you. And in that closeup, I want to see every dead body that you saw in Vietnam in your eyes. Every one.”
The leading man “did it wonderfully,” as the filmmaker recalled, before giving himself a huge pat on the back. “He came over to me and said, ‘Ted, that closeup is the finest bit of acting I’ve ever done, and I owe it all to you,” Stallone told Kotcheff. “‘Thank you’. That totally cemented our relationship.”
The final scene and the agonising monologue given by Rambo might be the standout for reaffirming Stallone’s credentials as more than just an overmuscled meathead, but it was that quieter moment following First Blood‘s only death caused by the protagonist that the star viewed as his best work.
