Sylvester Stallone Worked Odd Jobs & Suffered Hardships To Achieve His Acting Dream

Nov 07, 2022 by apost team

For someone as prominent as Sylvester Stallone, the kind of success he has achieved is truly an inspiration to many. But the story behind Stallone's success is even more inspiring – he worked his way to the top before achieving the pinnacle of his fame. In fact, he had gone through a lot of obstacles before achieving what he had achieved throughout the years.

Born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, he gained global recognition only as an actor but also as a writer and director. His mom was an American astrologer named Jackie Stallone. He has been married to his wife of 25 years, Jennifer Flavin.  

In August 2022, Stallone's filed for a "dissolution of marriage and other relief." Later on, Stallone released a statement saying he loves his family. "We are amicably and privately addressing these personal issues," part of his statement read. Less than two months later, they were spotted out and about in New York City. "They've decided to let it ride again," a source told PEOPLE.

But did you know that he worked odd jobs before getting landing a career as an actor?

"There's something about on-the-ground experience and I've been everything from a doorman to a bartender to cutting fish heads to working in lions' cages to being a movie usher. I know how the whole experience works," he told The Sunday Post.

He remained grounded because of what he had gone through in life, telling people to do the same.

Stallone struggled to get acting roles, even as an extra. His success is a result of sheer hard work and persistence.

"I couldn't even get a cameo role to play an Italian," he recalled. "I'll never forget this: it was a party scene, 300 guests! And they told me no. I asked them,' What part of me didn't go through an Italian look?"' he said in an interview with ABC News in 2016.

In 1976, he made a major breakthrough in his career with the film "Rocky." Thanks to his script for "Rocky," he landed his first role as an actor.

The producers even offered more than a quarter of a million dollars to sell them the script but told him he couldn't star in the film. He refused even though he only had $100 in his bank account, was struggling to pay rent and had a pregnant wife.

"Right. It went up to about $265,000 to stay away, to get off my lawn boy. But what they didn't count on is when a person hasn't had that type of money, you really don't miss it," he told BBC in an interview in 1977.

Stallone isn't one to quit. He wanted to prove to the people who didn't believe in him that he could do it. He told himself that if he was going to fail, he should at least do so with him at least trying. So, that's what he did.

"But more than that, I knew that if I sold it even for five hundred thousand dollars, I knew that after the money was gone, I would become very bitter for having sold out because my one love was to at least fail on my own terms," he said. 

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"I wanted to see if I could act because all these bit parts," he added.

He refused to sell unless he was part of the cast and got a $35,000 acting salary for the role.

Years later, his struggles would pay off. He went on to star in films such as First Blood, Rhinestone, F.I.S.T., Victory, Tango & Cash, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Nighthawks, and The Expendables.

In 2016, he bagged his first-ever Golden Globe award as Best Supporting Actor award for the character he played in "Creed." The emotional speech he delivered, along with the standing ovation he received, proved just how much he deserved it.

In 2018, he shared the draft of the screenplay he's working on for "Creed 2." While he struggled with writing, he encouraged his fellow actors to do the same, saying, "it's great for the mind."

Indeed, Sylvester Stallone is an actor worth emulating – and that's because he never stops believing in himself – and he's not afraid to try new things.

He revealed in The Graham Norton Show that he even had to sell his dog, a Buffalo Mastiff, just to have food on the table. 

"His life before was so hard that he had to sell his dogs. "I was down that I'm gonna had to sell my dog we'd have food to feed. I said, 'One of us doesn't eat. It's either you, my wife or the dog.' It was one of those things where you really roll the dice, and it paid off. And it was a big long shot," he said.

Thankfully, he was able to buy it back for $3,000 when he starred in the "Rocky" film franchise – and he appeared as Butkus!

What can you say about Sylvester Stallone's journey toward success? Let us know your thoughts and pass this on to anyone who might be interested to read this!