Sylvester Stallone admits one movie choice stalled his career for eight years

Can we all just admit Sylvester Stallone's a bit of a walking contradiction? The man’s name is basically shorthand for ‘action cinema’ – you think of Rambo, Rocky, big muscles, explosions, the whole testosterone-laced shebang. But Stallone’s always had this nagging itch to be taken seriously by the drama crowd, too. And according to him, that desire might have cost him nearly a decade of his career.

The Rocky Problem

First off: no one’s disputing that Rocky is one of those once-in-a-lifetime flicks that defines a career, maybe even overshadows it. Doesn’t matter how many times Sly straps himself to a machine gun or survives ludicrous odds – to most, he’ll always be the underdog from Philly. For the record, he knows it too, and he’s spoken about it quite a bit since, especially in that recent Netflix documentary and on his daughters’ podcast.

Stallone vs. Schwarzenegger: The Muscle Era

Let’s not forget there was a time when Stallone and Schwarzenegger were essentially neck-and-neck in the action star Olympics. Arnie stuck to his lane, rarely deviating from explosions and one-liners (sure, a comedy or two, but you get my point). Sly, on the other hand, had Rocky and occasionally fancied shoving his dramatic chops in front of everyone.

The Cop Land Gamble

Now for the weird bit. Around the mid-90s – specifically '95 to '96 by his estimate – Stallone hit what he calls a bit of a rut. Instead of chasing another generic action script, he signed on for a low-paying gig in James Mangold’s Cop Land. It was proper dramatic fare, alongside the likes of Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel.

Stallone said to his daughters on their podcast:

'I had a real down period, say around '95, when I did Cop Land. '95, '96. And I said, "Oh, let me do something really off, out of my comfort zone." And I did it. And I was very happy with the project, but actually it set me way back.'

That’s not just artistic brooding either – according to him, this wasn’t a small hiccup. The studios, apparently baffled by his move, basically asked why he bothered with something ‘for nothing’ when he could just do another brainless action epic, earn obscene cash, and everyone’s happy. He told them he’d planned to jump back into explosions soon enough, just fancied proving a point. Didn’t matter. Studio execs weren’t thrilled.

'He goes, well that doesn't make us look good because you're doing this for free, and why would we pay you anyway. It began a very bad spiral for about eight years.'

The Fallout (and Rocky, Again)

If you’re wondering, Cop Land was very well-received by critics and plenty of audiences who were probably relieved to see Sly play something other than an invincible terminator clone. Still, for the next stretch, he reckons the tough guy roles dried up a bit and Hollywood’s money men stopped taking him as seriously. The irony, of course, is that years down the line he’d get much of his dramatic respect back with Creed, netting himself a Golden Globe and an Oscar nod for playing, you guessed it, Rocky Balboa (again).

A Little What If?

• Action stars grow old, trends shift, and by the late 90s even that Schwarzenegger-Stallone formula was getting a bit tatty.
• Cop Land, despite being a critical win, actually may have shut doors for Stallone on the action front – at least according to him.
• The suits in Hollywood didn’t like him going dramatic for cheap, so they got skittish about backing him for blockbusters.
• Years later, audiences and awards voters alike remembered he could do more than just flex and shout. (Cheers, Ryan Coogler.)

Could Stallone have reinvented himself as a proper crime drama actor if Hollywood hadn’t been so singleminded? Sly seems to think so, and considering the acclaim for his performance in Cop Land, it’s hard to disagree.