Sylvester Stallone has no problem with people thinking his daughter’s involvement in Tulsa King is “nepotism”, insisting “of course it is”.
The actor’s 24-year-old daughter Scarlet Rose plays a stablehand in her dad’s Paramount+ series, with the role expanded for the fourth season, and the legendary star told USA Today that he has no issue with anyone considering it nepotism.
He said: “First they go, ‘Nepotism is terrible’. I said, ‘Oh please, you’re not a good parent if you haven’t performed a little nepotism. Then obviously you don’t care about your kids, because they come first.’
“Of course it’s nepotism, you idiot! That’s why we’re parents. We want the best for our children. So obviously we let them have every advantage.”
However, Sylvester knows that while his standing in Hollywood means his kids can get further, sooner, than others - they will still have to prove themselves when it comes to maintaining success in the industry.
He said: “Can they maintain that level of excellence? That’s out of our hands, But if you can open the door, we’ll see if they have the ability to go through it.
“People will say, ‘She got that job, it’s too easy.’ You’re right. Perhaps it could be. But to maintain that, to be in front of millions of people, you either got it or you don’t.”
Sylvester reprises his role as Dwight ’The General’ Manfredi - a mob boss running a criminal empire in Tulsa - in the fourth season of the show, and added to Entertainment Weekly that there’s a reason he keeps returning to the role.
He told Entertainment Weekly: “I relate to it, and luckily the audience relates to the fact that he’s not sensationally cruel, 24/7. There’s some characters that really do well with that, but I don’t know how long you could watch the guys from Casino. Like, all right, enough already, I can’t watch this for 10 episodes!
“Like in Rambo, there is the penchant for violence. When it goes down, it can’t be just a simple bang and the bad guy’s gone. I really want it to be a festival of horrors. I want people to go, ‘Oh, wow, that guy really got what he deserved.’
“The studio goes, ‘Aren’t you overdoing it?’ I go, ‘Absolutely.’ But it’s almost medieval.”