Sylvester Stallone is opening up about how decades of daredevilry have affected him—and why he considers himself an “idiot” for continuing to do his own stunts year after year.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the “Rocky” actor said he has “millions, millions of regrets” about his action career. “I could literally spend a half hour talking about injuries, the amount, not even like one, I’m talking about 30 hours, 30 minutes of just individual ones, because it becomes compounded. I have been injured many, many times, but after ‘Expendables,’ I ended up with nine back operations, three neck fusions. Both shoulders ripped out, eye, you know, all kinds of lens put … it’s been brutal,” he said, adding that he’s never been “quite the same” since the surgeries.
Stallone starred in — and also directed — the action thriller “The Expendables” in 2010 alongside Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and more. While filming a scene where Stallone got tackled by WWE legend Steve Austin, the stunt went wrong and left Stallone with dislocated shoulders and a fractured neck that required more than seven back surgeries. The “Rambo” actor needed a metal plate inserted into his neck and spinal fusions.
Stallone’s moral of the story is to “let other people do their job.” “Don’t be a stage hawk, or whatever you call it, a showboat. I know a lot of people are thinking about doing stunts … don’t. Don’t. Let the pro do it,” Stallone said. “You cannot beat gravity; when you hit the ground, you lose, and it’s going to come back.”
He continued, “I mean, just ask every football player in the world. So yeah, and people go, ‘Aren’t you proud of them?’ No. I think I’m an idiot for doing that. I’m proud that I broke myself in pieces. Like, duh, no.”
The actor shared a similar piece of advice ahead of the release of his memoir, “The Steps,” last month; Stallone told The New York Times that treating his body in the “masochistic” ways he did came “at a terrible price.” “If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts.”