Sylvester Stallone had 'altercation' with dad on Rocky set

Sylvester Stallone fell out with his dad on the set of Rocky after giving him a cameo role in the movie.

The actor/screenwriter was thrilled to be making his 1976 boxing movie and he wanted to share his success with his father, Frank Stallone Sr., so he gave him a small part as the bell ringer standing close to the action as Stallone's character Rocky fought Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers.

Stallone told the New York Times: "It was like: 'I just want you to love me for a little bit'. Like, look what I did! Share it with me. I know you thought I was a fool my whole life, but here we are [making a movie]."

However, the Rambo star admitted things got "really nasty" when Frank failed to ring the bell at the right times.

He explained: "[He] didn’t ring the bell properly ... [I] kept fighting and fighting and fighting. Everything’s choreographed. It’s one, two, three, four, bell. Not six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Carl Weathers is like: 'What’s going on?'"

It ended with father and son falling out and having an "altercation". The actor added: "And of course it ended up in an altercation by the end. It got really nasty. A really bad Italian drama. But for a moment I thought, Jesus, he’d be proud."

Stallone opened up about his complication relationship with his dad in the interview admitting Frank could be "very cold and tough" but they made up prior to his death in 2011.

He told the publication: "It would be these constant bombastic explosions and then total silence. If he and I were talking and I said: 'I don’t know if I agree with that,' he’d start spinning his fork and suck his teeth, and you knew what was coming.

"The next thing you know, wham! He had very big hands. You learn to duck. I didn’t put a lot of stuff in the book [Stallone's upcoming memoir The Step] because I didn’t want a pity party, but it was insane."

The story of the making of Rocky is coming to the big screen later this year with the release of I Play Rocky, which tells the story of Stallone's efforts to bring his boxing movie to life with Anthony Ippolito playing him.

The movie - which is released in November - is already receiving rave reviews following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada earlier this month.

During a question-and-answer session after the screening, director Peter Farrelly revealed Stallone has seen the finished film and he approves, telling the audience: "Yeah, Sly liked it."

Ippolito also took part in the session and he admitted he feels grateful to Farrelly and the producers for casting him as Stallone and taking a huge chance on an unknown actor.

He said: "[I'm] grateful [they] were willing to take a chance on me. The movie shows it’s not easy to be an actor sometimes and this is absolutely surreal." The session also featured Stephan James - who plays actor Carl Weathers who starred in Rocky as the boxer's nemesis Apollo Creed - and James admitted he felt proud to play Carl, who died in 2024.

James said: "I’m so honored to be able to carry the legacy of someone like Carl. Not only was he such an important figure to the Rocky franchise but just as a Black leading action hero pioneer.

"All of those things mean to so much to me stepping into his shoes and hopefully I do him just a little bit of justice." I Play Rocky is already being tipped as an Oscar contender ahead of the 2027 Academy Awards.

If the film lands nominations, it would follow in the footsteps of Rocky, which landed 10 nods and won three Oscars including the coveted Best Picture prize in 1977.