Sylvester Stallone has been creating memorable roles for himself ever since 1976’s “Rocky,” but the 76-year-old actor might finally be ready to ease back on acting.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, the legend revealed that the current series he’s starring in, “Tulsa King” — for which he’s also an executive producer — could be the final time he stars in a project he’s also involved with creatively.
When asked if he’s working on anything he’d hope to direct and act in down the road, he responded: “I might, but maybe not the acting.”
“I doubt the acting aspect of it,” Stallone continued. “I think this might be my swan song.”
Ever s ince “Rocky” became a sensation (and won the best picture Oscar), Stallone, who played the titular boxer Rocky Balboa, has bet on himself behind the camera in his acting projects.
He had a screenplay credit for every “Rocky” movie in the franchise up until 2006’s “Rocky Balboa.” He also had screenplay credits for the “Rambo” movies and “The Expendables” movies and had producer credits for the “Creed” movies.
In “Tulsa King,” created by Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone”), Stallone plays a New York City mafia lieutenant who gets out of prison and heads to Tulsa to start a new outfit.
It’s hard to imagine Stallone not returning to the “Expendables” or “Rambo” franchises (his Balboa character does not return in “Creed III”), but the actor admits that’s not a bad thing for his mental state.
“When you’re doing Rambo, after a while it’s like — you want to attack the pancakes in the morning, you want to throw your coffee against the wall, you actually breathe that kind of anger,” he told IndieWire. “If you keep it going, it reflects in your eyes.”