Anthony Ippolito has described the conversations he had with Sylvester Stallone before and after playing the Hollywood star in "I Play Rocky," a film about the making of the 1976 classic "Rocky." The 27-year-old actor plays the lead role.
Ippolito spoke at the PEOPLE/Entertainment Weekly/Shutterstock studio at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, where "I Play Rocky" had its world premiere. He revealed that the 80-year-old Hollywood star has already seen the finished film.
He said he spoke with Stallone afterward and that Stallone had watched the film with his wife. He said they were both huge fans of the movie and were wonderful toward him and the cast, referring to Stallone and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, to whom Stallone has been married since 1997.
He said he had been nervous about the whole process. He said he spoke with Stallone before filming began and had studied him for a long time ahead of that conversation.
Stallone's Advice on Set
Ippolito said Stallone helped him relax and shared his own perspective on the period. He said there was a lot riding on the project and a lot that needed to be done right, but that Stallone is someone who puts people at ease very easily, which helped him a great deal. He said he simply wanted to hear as much of Stallone's perspective as possible, and anything else he was willing to share. He said Stallone was very generous and shared as much as he could.
"I Play Rocky" follows Stallone's early years in Hollywood and the moment he turned to writing a screenplay for himself to star in, at a time when he was struggling to establish himself as an actor. The film focuses in particular on Stallone's insistence on keeping the lead role in "Rocky" for himself, a decision that launched one of the most significant film careers of the past fifty years.
Ippolito said his nerves did not fully go away even after that first conversation. He said he was almost just as nervous afterward, but that Stallone was very kind, and he believes it was also an opportunity for Stallone to look back on that period of his career.
A Year and a Half of Physical Training
Ippolito also revealed that he trained for a year and a half to be able to embody the young Stallone. He recalled hearing that the film was in the works, and said the process of landing the role was itself a whole story on its own.
He explained that he began intensive preparation for the role immediately, and that a delay in the shooting schedule gave him more time to transform his body. He said that once he learned he had the part, filming had been scheduled for roughly six months later. He began preparing as much as he could right away, and then the start date was pushed back, giving him a bit more time. He said that actually helped him a lot, because the body does not really want to change in that way, but that if you keep at something long enough and stay consistent, you can achieve it.
