He puts himself in the shoes of Stallone and Rocky: first photos
Anthony Ippolito will lend his features to the legendary interpreter of the Philadelphia boxer, in a funny biopic on the creation of the cult film.
Anthony Ippolito to play 1970s Sylvester Stallone in biopic I Play Rocky.
The actor, already noticed in The Offer — the behind-the-scenes series Godfather where he played a young Al Pacino — will this time lend his features to the legendary interpreter of Rocky Balboa.
Directed by Peter Farrelly (Green Book), the film returns to the true story behind the creation of the first Rocky.
Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk) plays Carl Weathers, while AnnaSophia Robb plays Sasha Czack, Stallone’s first wife, and Matt Dillon plays Frank Stallone Sr., his father.
The first set photos, published on the networks, show Ippolito larger than life, posing on a set which faithfully recreates the atmosphere of 1976.
The resemblance to the young Sylvester Stallone – not at all involved – is striking.
According to The Hollywood ReporterSly neither approved nor criticized the project: he prefers to wait to see the final result before deciding. Note that Anthony Ippolito fought to get the role, sending an audition tape to the producers on his own initiative – a gesture that recalls the journey of the real Stallone, ready to do anything to embody the hero he himself had imagined.
The official synopsis summarizes the story like this: “A broke actor, with a partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment, writes a screenplay that a major studio wants to buy. But he refuses to sell it unless he gets the lead role. Declining a fantastic financial offer, he agrees to work for next to nothing so that the film can be made with him in the lead. The result: the biggest hit of 1976, 10 Oscar nominations and a Best Picture statuette. The story true of the birth of the myth Rocky.”
