I was recently privileged to be invited to the world famous London Palladium, to be a part of the audience for, “An Evening with Sylvester Stallone”, hosted by our very own, Jonathan Ross.
As I approached the Palladium, there were hundreds of people milling around in the streets surrounding the theatre, blocking the road and taking the risk of getting swiped by passing cars. This determination to “be there” when Sly would eventually appear in his car, underlines the popularity of this Hollywood A-List actor and the lengths his fans will go to in order to catch a glimpse of him.
The event was promoted by Rocco Buonvino & Joe Ricotta (names which reminded me of characters I would expect in a sequel of The Godfather!), with help in several areas from a number of their work colleagues, including additional Stage Production by Chaz DaBat, musician and producer extraordinaire. Reknown, not only for his studio genius (he can make ANYONE sound good), but also for leaving his wife at their New York hotel on their honeymoon, so he could go to the cinema and catch an all-night chronological showing of every Batman movie!
Back at the Palladium, the stage was set with two settees, arranged loosely like a wide, upside down “V”, allowing Jonathan and Sly to see each other, yet still be practically facing the audience. In order to give everyone a taster and get us in the mood, we were shown onscreen a montage of movie clips, some of the clips raising a huge cheer from the audience.
Sly’s entrance onto the stage was predictably, (and could only be), to the theme from “Rocky”, and as expected he received a rapturous welcome.
Once everyone had calmed down, Jonathan Ross proceeded to go into work mode, asking several questions, which in turn prompted some eloquent and rather revealing answers from Sly. We were able to see a side to him which I think, most of us were unaware of – a softer side, and he was not embarrassed to admit to the poverty he suffered prior to becoming the big star he is today. Born in an area in New York known as Hell’s Kitchen (No, Gordon Ramsey was NOT Mayor!), he related stories of his childhood in this area, a childhood which could have easily led him to a completely different life on the wrong side of the tracks. His parents, (father: a hairdresser, mother: a chorus girl) suffered a stormy relationship, and this led to Sly being fostered, which in turn had an adverse effect on him. Understandably, this constant upheaval resulted in Sly suffering behavioural problems and in turn, poor grades at school. In fact, at his school he had the distinction of being voted by the teachers as, “The student most likely to end up in the electric chair”. I’d wager those teachers have felt pretty stupid ever since Rocky hit the big screen in 1976. The movie won 3 Academy Awards, and he is the only person to have had a No.1 Box Office hit in each of five consecutive decades. Not bad for a “good for nothing loser”.
Sly went to great lengths to show how difficult his struggle to succeed was, and kept emphasising to us that if we want something badly enough, we should never give up. When he wrote Rocky (yes, that’s right, he wrote the whole thing), he had several offers for the script, but no offer for him to star in the movie. He declined all offers. The offers then increased in value, to what seemed to him at the time, a fortune, yet still he did not yield. The reason he tells us, is because he was convinced that this movie would be big, and he wanted to be a part of it, especially as he felt he was qualified to play the part of the now legendary character, Rocky Balboa. It was here that he again re-iterated to the audience the need to stay strong and focussed, when you believe in something.
Of course, we all know that he did indeed, stick to his guns, and following the first movie, created the Rocky franchise. The theme music for the franchise is now so well known, that you would be hard pressed to find a film goer who does not instantly recognise it, putting it on a par with the James Bond theme, with regards the instant association to the franchise/character.
Sly revealed during the evening, that actor Steve Reeves (Hercules), and Kirk Douglas (in the movie The Vikings), were both pivotal in his acting career, when, as a young boy he sought to replicate scenes from these movies. He also told of his first meeting with Mr T (later appearing in Rocky III) and of his idea to cast him as Clubber Lang after asking him to demonstrate throwing a punch! Sly even wrote that famous catchphrase, “I pity the fool”.
What every actor has done at some point or other is turn down work for various reasons, and Sly is no exception. Amongst the list of films he has rejected, two in particular stood out for me: Witness (Harrison Ford), and Romancing The Stone (Michael Douglas). These were both massive blockbusters, with the latter movie spawning a sequel. However, before we look upon this as a negative in Sly’s career, we should look at it another way. Things could have worked out much worse, in that he could have agreed the sale of the Rocky script, and there would be no Sly the actor, just a writer and /or producer.
Let’s be thankful for what have.
After a 45-minute chat with Jonathan “Woth”, a Q & A session was initiated, with interesting questions from the public, resulting in some very funny stories from Sly. He revisited his earlier comments about never giving up, no matter how many times you are told you or your work are “not up to scratch”, and remarked, “I should have named my daughter Rejection – I felt that emotion so many times!” Of course, the audience laughed at this, and why wouldn’t they? The idea of turning down Sly seems preposterous now. Anyone who rejected Sly in his early days, no doubt feels just like the guy who once turned down a band with members John, Paul, George and Ringo! Unthinkable now they’ve made it, and so it is with Sly, too. He did add, that “you should always plan for failure”, in that if you are following a career in movies, or the arts in general, always have a backup plan.
Sly has obviously rubbed shoulders with some of Hollywood’s top flight actors/actresses and mentioned various stories, meetings, and comedy moments. Amongst his favourite actors is one of my own – Kelsey Grammar, of whom Sly spoke so very highly. All in all, a thoroughly entertaining evening, although I felt it ended a little too soon.
He departed the stage virtually on the hour, but made many of his fans happy with his human side. Excellent PR, if I say so myself.
Other than the length of the on-stage time, my only other criticism of the evening was Sly’s failure to stick around for a “Meet & Greet”, especially with some of the VIP guests who had paid £350 + Vat for a ticket. I think whoever you are, no matter how busy your schedule, you should factor in to your allotted time for such a live event, a period in which to meet people, have photos taken and sign a few autographs. It’s the least you can do in this line of work. After all, without the public you have nothing.
However, that aside, a thoroughly entertaining evening. Thank you Sly.