Sylvester Stallone Releases Memoir Reflecting on Rocky and His Early Struggles

Sylvester Stallone has released his memoir, Steps, offering a reflection on the hardships that preceded his rise in film and the inspiration behind Rocky.

The book was released on Tuesday, after Stallone turned 80 in July. He said he had been approached several times over the years about writing his life story but had been reluctant to do so.

A reluctant memoirist

Stallone said he found it difficult to revisit the experiences he faced before entering the film industry. He described himself as an unplanned and unwanted child and said he had spent decades putting those memories aside.

“I spent 50 years burying that stuff,” Stallone said, describing the process of writing as a form of personal excavation. He added that he did not want the memoir to become a complaint about his circumstances, saying that people face struggles of many kinds.

Instead, Stallone said he wanted to focus on the experiences and motivation connected to his work. He linked the book to what he called the inspiration behind his breakthrough and to the events that led to Rocky, which was released in 1976.

“The character was inspiring and I want to tell the people how it all came to be,” he said.

Looking back at Rocky

Stallone also praised I Play Rocky, a fictionalized and semi-authorized film based on his story. He credited actor and director Peter Farrelly and said the project had initially seemed unlikely to succeed.

Stallone called the film “fantastic” and said he had not expected it to work. He distinguished the new project from the original boxing drama, describing Rocky as fiction while presenting I Play Rocky as a real-life story connected to it.

The film is described as due in cinemas weeks after the memoir’s release, although a specific theatrical date was not provided.

Recent screen role

Stallone most recently featured as Dwight “The General” Manfredi in Tulsa King, a series released by Paramount+.

With Steps, Stallone turns attention from his best-known fictional characters to the personal experiences and creative decisions he says helped shape his career.