Stallone Biopic Star Reveals Drastic 40-Lb. Weight Gain for ‘I Play Rocky’
The 27-year-old actor revealed the intense transformation he underwent to play the ripped actor.
Chartoff-Winkler Productions/United Artists
The actor who portrays Sylvester Stallone in an upcoming biopic is revealing the drastic measures he took to resemble the Rocky star.
Anthony Ippolito revealed in an interview with GQ magazine that he gained 40 pounds to play Sylvester Stallone in I Play Rocky, the upcoming biopic about the making of the 1976 boxing classic.
The 27-year-old actor said he spent nearly two years changing his physique for the role.
“It was a lifestyle shift, and it was a priority in my life for a great deal of time,” Ippolito said. “It was just a really arduous process.”
'I Play Rocky' follows Stallone's journey as the writer and lead actor in the original film.
James Drake/Getty Images
I Play Rocky follows Stallone as a struggling actor trying to get Rocky made while insisting on playing the lead himself.
The biopic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12. It opens in select theaters on November 6, then expands nationwide on November 20.
Ippolito trained for nearly two years, gaining about 40 pounds.
United Artists/Getty Images
Ippolito said he spent most of the bulking phase training five days a week before adding boxing, cardio, and twice-daily workouts closer to filming.
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“In the beginning, it was just me. Then they brought on two wonderful trainers, Grant Roberts and Kirk Myers, through the last five months of the process,” he shared.
“It was kind of just me trying to eat the amount that I needed to eat, get in those macros, and really try to put size on to get that shape and that silhouette of the man that a lot of people, a lot of fans of the franchise, have come to know,” Ippolito said.
Sylvester Stallone biopic actor Anthony Ippolito looks identical to the ‘Rocky’ star. Pictured here is Sylvester Stallone at New York City nightclub Studio 54 in 1978.
Oscar Abolafia/Getty Images
“I wasn’t trying to shed all of [the fat],” Ippolito added. “We were trying to match Sly’s body as closely as we could.”
Ippolito previously played Al Pacino in 'The Offer.'
Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
In 2022, Ippolito played a young Al Pacino in Paramount’s The Offer, which chronicled the making of The Godfather.
Anthony Ippolito previously potrayed actor Al Pacino in "The Offer."
The Offer
He told GQ that the two roles have left him feeling “very fortunate and a bit spoiled” to portray two major Hollywood stars.
Ippolito said he worked closely with Stallone, speaking with him before and after the film wrapped.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Ippolito also spoke with Stallone, both before the movie was shot and again after the 80-year-old actor watched the finished film.
“I had studied him for a long time prior to that conversation,” Ippolito told People in a Sept. 13 interview.
He worked with trainers to achieve a similar physique to Stallone's in preparation for the role.
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
“He’s very disarming, so that was very helpful, thankfully. I just wanted to try to hear his perspective as much as possible,” Ippolito said.
Stallone's lookalike son, Sage, also appeared in the 'Rocky' franchise.
Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images
Stallone’s lookalike son, Sage, who died of a heart attack at 36 in 2012, also appeared in the original boxing franchise. He played Rocky’s son, Rocky Balboa Jr., in Rocky V.
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