Sylvester Stallone’s story inspired Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to fight hard for their dreams

Sylvester Stallone’s rise to fame in Hollywood has been nothing but inspiring and a great story of resilience.

He started from literally nothing and he worked hard to become the big star that he is today.

He is a self-made superstar who is also multitalented and has also ventured into writing and directing in addition to being an actor.

Sylvester Stallone in Rocky

His 1976 film Rocky still remains one of the best films of all time and the story of how it got made mirrored the film’s plot of an underdog fighting for a chance to prove himself.

This story inspired future actors who like him, fought against all odds to get their film made the way they wanted.

Sylvester Stallone’s Story Inspired Matt Damon to Fight for Good Will Hunting

Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting

Sylvester Stallone‘s journey of getting Rocky made has been an inspiring one for filmmakers who have a unique vision for their creation and do not let studios make changes that would hamper the overall quality of the work.

Stallone wrote the film and fought hard to get someone to back up the film that he wanted to star as the lead in.

This historic achievement inspired future actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who like Stallone had written a script for a film (Good Will Hunting) and were fighting to get someone back up the film. It seems every Hollywood executive wanted a big name like Leonardo DiCaprio to be the lead in the film.

However, both Damon and Affleck were persistent in starring as principal characters in the film. Damon spoke about how Stallone’s story inspired him and Affleck saying, (via Vanity Fair)
“Believe me, they really wanted to take it away from us,” said Damon, 45, during his acceptance speech.

“They were like, ‘God, Leonardo DiCaprio would be so good in this,’ Every time they said, ‘You can’t do this,’ we said, ‘Actually it’s been done once before.’ [Sylvester Stallone’s] story changed my life. He had an incredible amount of courage, and he changed the course of our lives.”

Just like how Rocky created history at the Oscars when it came out, Good Will Hunting also won and was nominated for several Oscars. The film won Best Original Screenplay for both Damon and Affleck and Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams.

Sylvester Stallone’s Intense Diet For the Rocky Films Impacted His Memory

Rocky Balboa vs Clubber Lang in Rocky III

Rocky Balboa remains Sylvester Stallone’s most recognizable and celebrated character. He has played the character over 8 times and he still holds the character very close to his heart.

But the preparation for the role was grueling as Stallone had to maintain his physique and an intense diet plan.

He told The Wall Street Journal that the intense diet impacted his memory drastically.

He said, “My entire breakfast would be maybe two [small] oatmeal cookies made with brown rice and 10 cups of coffee because I wanted to keep my body fat down to 2.8 percent.

“I was forgetting my phone number. I was eating just tuna fish. My memory was shot, it was completely gone. I was getting all kinds of debilitating physical effects.

But it was for the cause.”
Stallone’s hard work paid off immensely as the character remains a prominent part of pop culture today.

Fans continue to discover the Rocky films and experience the inspirational tale of resilience and victory of an underdog that has changed many people’s lives.