How Anthony Ippolito talked his way into playing Sylvester Stallone in
'I Play Rocky'
[November 04, 2026]
By JOHN CARUCCI
Anthony Ippolito saw the opportunity of a lifetime when he learned that
Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly was developing a film about
Sylvester Stallone’s determination to write and star in the original
“Rocky.” There was just one problem: Nobody had asked him to audition
for “I Play Rocky.”
“So, I kind of just took it upon myself to make some stuff on my own and
kind of send it to them unsolicited,” the 27-year-old actor said in a
recent interview with The Associated Press ahead of the movie's limited
release Friday.
It was a move that could be seen as taking a page from the book of
Stallone's own improbable rise to stardom but, for Ippolito, “it didn’t
really necessarily feel that way at the time, to be honest. I was just
hoping somebody would see it.”
Farrelly did — and was convinced from the start.
“He sent his tape, you know, cold, and we’re like, that’s the guy,” the
director recalled. “We were going to do a worldwide search, we never did
it.”
Farrelly was particularly impressed by Ippolito’s ability to distinguish
the man from his famous screen persona.
“This guy came fully formed — he was exactly what I was looking for
because he didn’t do a caricature of Stallone or Rocky and he knew the
difference,” Farrelly said.
Ippolito has already had some experience stepping into the shoes of a
Hollywood icon. He previously portrayed a young Al Pacino in “The
Offer,” the miniseries chronicling the making of the 1972 classic “The
Godfather.” Farrelly had been a big fan of “The Offer,” and his favorite
performance was the portrayal of Pacino. What he didn’t realize was that
Ippolito was the actor behind it.
“That’s when I realized, ‘Oh, this guy’s good.’ I mean, I knew he was
good for what we had, but I didn’t realize how this guy can transform
into whatever he wants,” Farrelly said.
Both roles presented a similar challenge: portraying legendary actors at
pivotal moments in their careers, before fame and success defined their
public identities. He needed “to strip away the celebrity,” as he put
it, looking beyond the familiar voices and mannerisms to find the people
underneath. To play Stallone, Ippolito explored the hardships that
shaped — and fueled — the older actor, including a difficult childhood,
limited parental support and a profound sense of isolation. Ippolito
described the process as partly voyeuristic with a dash of speculation.
[to top of second column]
|
This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows Anthony Ippolito as
Sylvester Stallone in a scene from "I Play Rocky." (Claire Folger/Amazon
MGM Studios via AP)
 “You’re trying to imagine moments
that don’t exist in cinema at this point and kind of in between,” he
said.
Equally compelling to Ippolito was Stallone’s determination. Here
was a struggling actor who reportedly turned down offers in the
$300,000 range for his “Rocky” screenplay rather than surrender the
starring role. Fifty years later, Ippolito sees that gamble as the
heart of Stallone’s story: a man willing to risk everything on a
dream that Hollywood was ready to buy, but not let him live.
“It’s so incredible what he was able to do ... and the conviction
that he had and his commitment to seeing his idea through all the
way to the end,” Ippolito said.
For AnnaSophia Robb, who plays Stallone's first wife Sasha,
Ippolito’s transformation seemed almost effortless.
“He was so subtle about the whole thing. I met him, and he’s not
method or anything, but he had dedicated, you know, like a year and
a half of just getting into this role,” Robb said. “So when we
stepped on set, it just felt natural. It felt right.”
As buzz surrounding the film grows, Ippolito is getting his first
taste of the spotlight that transformed Stallone’s life. “It’s been
very, very gratifying and amazing to see the film land with certain
people,” he said.
One of those people was Stallone himself, who was uninvolved in the
movie other than a conversation with Farrelly. But he has seen it,
as he told the AP in a September interview.
“It’s fantastic. And the kid did a great job,” he said. “This is so
odd. They usually do this when you’re dead and gone.”
___
AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
