Public transcript

Sylvester Stallone Hid His Struggles for Decades. Now He’s Coming Clean.

By: The Daily
Length: 1 h 17 min
Published: 26 September 2026
Language: English
Text from: the audio
Transcribed: 27 September 2026

Read the full transcript Open on Apple Podcasts

Notes in English.

Summary

In this two-part conversation with The Daily's Lulu Garcia Navarro, Sylvester Stallone discusses his memoir The Steps, detailing an abusive childhood, his rise to fame with Rocky, his struggles with anxiety and body image, the death of his son Sage, and his reflections on regret, aging, and mortality at 80 years old. He speaks candidly about physical abuse from his father, emotional neglect from his mother, his competitive rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and his evolution from a gung-ho action star to someone now bitterly opposed to war.

Key points

Stallone details severe physical abuse from his father and emotional neglect from his mother throughout his childhood, including being sent to a boarding house as a young child and being placed in a padded cell at a school called Devereaux.
Forceps used during his birth partially paralyzed his face, causing him to slur and mumble throughout his childhood, which he describes as being 10 times worse than Rocky's speech.
Stallone reveals he became bulimic while preparing for Rocky III, getting down to 2.6 percent body fat, and says nobody achieves that physique without steroids.
He began suffering anxiety attacks at age 36 while watching dailies, and continues to experience them in crowds, describing them as coming from something deep-rooted.
His son Sage died in 2012 at age 36 from an undiagnosed heart condition, and Stallone describes the grief and guilt as something you never get over.
Stallone describes his rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a creative marriage that pushed both to pioneer the 1980s action genre, and they eventually became friends.
He says his hardest and proudest moment was making Rocky Balboa at 60 when nobody wanted it and he had been fired by agents and managers.
Stallone has come to believe all war is futile and stupid, having once been gung-ho, and says Rambo's evolution into a bravado-driven character was his own fault.
He has had nine back operations, two shoulder operations, and three neck fusions, describing his body as held together with bailing wire.

Questions it answers

00:00Introduction to the memoir

What is Stallone's new memoir about and why did he write it?

The Steps details his abusive and tortured childhood and how that fueled his success in Hollywood franchises. Writing it brought mixed emotions of tears, laughter, anger, and bitterness, but he came to see that pain as motivation to do something extraordinary.

The memoir is called The Steps, alluding to Rocky's iconic scene.
Stallone describes parents as sculptors who create either a masterpiece or a disaster.

03:00Abusive childhood and parents

What was Stallone's childhood like with his parents?

His mother was not nurturing and never hugged him. His father was violent, beating him over small mistakes like buying the wrong bread and attacking him at a polo match. He was sent to a boarding house as a very young child with only monthly visits from parents.

Forceps at birth partially paralyzed his face, causing severe slurring.
His father once shot a cat and left it in the wash tub to prove his toughness.
He remembers one moment of tenderness from his father at age nine as the epitome of love.

15:15Psych ward experience

What happened to Stallone in the psych ward at Devereaux?

After sneaking out to see a girl, he was placed in a padded cell for a couple of weeks in a place called the snake pit. He was attacked by another patient. The experience taught him that no one could break his will.

The ward housed severely mentally ill patients in filth and squalor.
He was attacked by a patient named Jay Bird, son of actor Lloyd Nolan.
He emerged believing he was unbreakable.

19:00Struggling actor in New York

How did Stallone pursue acting before Rocky?

He worked as an usher at a movie theater, studying audience reactions and writing down dialogue. He lived in a tiny eight-by-nine-foot room, writing scripts with blacked-out windows for days, and spent time at MoMA developing a deep appreciation for art.

He used record albums of Traffic and Blood, Sweat, and Tears as a desk.
MoMA became what he calls the church of the brain.

27:00Rocky and career breakthrough

How did Stallone land the role of Rocky?

With $106 in the bank, he refused increasing offers from studios who wanted James Caan or Ryan O'Neill instead. He felt he would hate himself forever if someone else played the role, calling it a crossroad he had to cross himself.

He cast his father as the timekeeper, wanting his father to share the moment.
His father rang the bell wrong, causing an altercation.
His mother refused to attend the Oscars.

34:00Anxiety and mental health

When did Stallone start experiencing anxiety?

At 36, while watching dailies, he had his first panic attack feeling like he was dying. They went away for five years but returned, especially in crowded situations like events and the Today Show. He never went to therapy, believing it would not help.

Attacks happen in crowds and before public appearances.
He attributes anxiety to something deep-rooted from childhood.

37:42Sage's death and fatherhood

How did Stallone's son Sage die and how did it affect him?

Sage died in 2012 at 36 from an undiagnosed heart condition. Stallone learned of the death via a phone call from his mother's new husband, a doctor he had never met. About a week later, alone in his room, a wail came out of him that he had never heard before. He says you do not get over it.

He describes the grief as not human.
He says his wife Jennifer is the greatest woman and raised his daughters with selfless love.
He admits he was not a very good parent, especially in his first marriage.

41:00Fame and Arnold rivalry

How did fame change Stallone and what was his rivalry with Schwarzenegger like?

Fame made him combative, revengeful, and insufferable, alienating the entire press. His rivalry with Schwarzenegger was like a creative marriage that pushed both to pioneer the 1980s action genre. They eventually became friends after Schwarzenegger entered politics and Stallone campaigned for him.

They could not stand being in the same room at Planet Hollywood.
Stallone compares their rivalry to Ali and Frazier.
Stallone regrets some things he said about Schwarzenegger.

Notes

Childhood and Family Abuse

Stallone's birth involved forceps that partially paralyzed his face, causing severe slurring and mumbling throughout childhood.
His mother went into labor on a bus and gave birth at a charity ward staffed mainly by interns.
Both parents saw his arrival as ruining their ambitions; he was sent to a boarding house as a small child with monthly parental visits.
His parents divorced when he was about 10-11; he remembers holding his mother's leg as she left.
His father was physically abusive, beating him over buying the wrong bread and dragging him off a polo horse to beat him in public.
At 43-44, Stallone and his father nearly came to blows on Sunset Boulevard when Stallone said he wished they were the same age.

The Psych Ward at Devereaux

Stallone was placed in a place called Park Lodge or the snake pit, a Tudor-style building housing severely mentally ill patients.
He was put in a padded cell for a couple of weeks after sneaking out to see a girl.
He was attacked by another patient named Jay Bird, son of actor Lloyd Nolan.
The experience taught him: "You can't break me."

Rocky and Early Career

Stallone had $106 in the bank when studios offered more money not to star in Rocky, preferring James Caan or Ryan O'Neill.
He refused to sell the script without starring, calling it a crossroad he could not let someone else cross.
He cast his father as the timekeeper in Rocky's climactic fight, wanting his father to love him for a moment.
His mother refused to attend the Oscars.

Body, Anxiety, and Mental Health

Stallone became bulimic preparing for Rocky III, reaching 2.6 percent body fat.
He acknowledges using steroids to achieve his physique, saying nobody does it naturally.
His body has suffered: nine back operations, two shoulder operations, three neck fusions.
He began having anxiety attacks at 36 while watching dailies, and they continue in crowds.
He never went to therapy, saying it doesn't go away.

Fame, Rivalry, and Later Career

Fame made him combative, revengeful, and insufferable; he alienated the press.
His rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger pushed both to pioneer 1980s action cinema; they became friends later.
He considers Cop Land his most underappreciated performance.
Rocky Balboa at 60 was his hardest and proudest achievement; studio heads told him he was done.
He now considers all war futile and stupid, having once been gung-ho.

Transcribed automatically from the audio. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.