At 80, Sylvester Stallone is finally talking about what the Rocky body cost him: bulimia, steroids and years of anxiety. Here's what he said.
In a New York Times interview ahead of his memoir, Stallone opened up about body obsession, anxiety attacks, a painful childhood and his regrets.
The headline: getting lean for Rocky III (1982), he says the obsession got so bad he became bulimic. "I couldn't hold anything down," he said.
Asked if he took steroids, he answered: "Oh, my god, you have to." He argued that physique wasn't realistic on training and diet alone.
He called his physique his armor. Then "it became an obsession. Really bad." He says it followed him through the Rocky and Rambo years.
"I've abused my body," he admits: nine back operations, two shoulder surgeries and three neck fusions. His advice now? Don't do your own stunts.
Relief came with Cop Land (1997), playing a deaf, out-of-shape sheriff. He says it was the first time he felt "somewhat liberated."
A forceps birth left part of his face paralyzed and his speech slurred. He was sent to a boardinghouse as a kid: "I was just raised by strangers."
He wrote Rocky with under $100 in the bank and refused to sell it unless he starred. The 1976 film won Best Picture from 10 Oscar nominations.
His memoir, The Steps, arrives Sept. 29 from William Morrow. The title nods to the Philadelphia museum steps Rocky famously ran up.
Stallone is still working, starring in Tulsa King. His lesson from it all: flexing your muscles is a lot easier than showing your soul.