'I Play Rocky' star reveals Sylvester Stallone's reaction to film

Anthony Ippolito says Sylvester Stallone has seen I Play Rocky and had a 'very positive reaction'. Ippolito made the remark in a Variety podcast interview about playing a young Stallone in Peter Farrelly's film. He said he was hoping for that response, and that he got it. The film follows the making of the original Rocky, and the tumultuous fight to get it made with Stallone in the lead. Ippolito studied the handwritten first draft of Rocky, scrawled in a red Mead notebook, and says his work on Stallone bordered on obsession. Ippolito also reflected on why Hollywood needs more raw, human stories, and said the next Stallone may not look like a movie star yet. Stallone has shared his own thoughts. At a 92NY conversation promoting his memoir The Steps, he admitted he was first 'kind of mixed', asking whether the film was jumping the gun when he wasn't dead yet. Then he saw a video of Ippolito. 'I actually thought it was me the first moment,' Stallone said. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month and also stars AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone's wife, Sasha, Matt Dillon as his father, Frank Stallone Sr., and Stephan James as Carl Weathers. Ippolito previously played Al Pacino in Paramount+'s The Offer.