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\n(L-R) Director Peter Farrelly and I Play Rocky stars Anthony Ippolito and Kiki Seto at the Toronto International Film Festival<\/p>\n
I Play Rocky, a new film that traces the path of a then-unknown Sylvester Stallone fighting to create the movie that would make him a star, premiered on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it garnered a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
Directed by Peter Farrelly, who won an Oscar for the 2018 film Green Book, the film recounts Stallone’s initial struggles as he tried to break into Hollywood.<\/p>\n
His big break came when he wrote a screenplay about a boxer who, against all odds, gets his moment in the ring and seizes the opportunity – a story that reflected his own reality.<\/p>\n
Poor to the point that he had to sell his dog because he could not afford to feed it, Stallone turned down studio offers for the script over one condition: he would only sell the script if he could star in the film.<\/p>\n
\n(L-R) Director Peter Farrelly and I Play Rocky stars Anthony Ippolito and Kiki Seto at the Toronto International Film Festival<\/p>\n
“The depth that Stallone had gone to before he made this movie, and the battle was even when he was shooting the movie, it all got me, because I didn’t know it all,” Farrelly told AFP on the red carpet in Toronto.<\/p>\n
‘Just hang in there’<\/p>\n
The filmmaker said he aimed to convey the same message in his film as the 1976 original: “Just hang in there, be tough, you take some shots, but if you have integrity, you will win in the end.”<\/p>\n
Shot on a shoestring budget, Rocky ended up becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976, catapulting Stallone to stardom and garnering 10 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Picture.<\/p>\n
Before the film screened, Farrelly personally thanked Stallone for giving his blessing to make the film.<\/p>\n
“I said from the beginning, ‘I’m not going to make the movie unless Sylvester Stallone signs off on it’,” Farrelly told AFP.<\/p>\n
“And he read the script and said, ‘Go ahead’.<\/p>\n
“And he saw the movie, he was very happy, thank God.”<\/p>\n
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\nI Play Rocky star Anthony Ippolito – “The movie shows that it’s not really that easy to be an actor sometimes”<\/p>\n
The film stars 27-year-old actor Anthony Ippolito as Stallone, who landed the role by sending in an audition tape before casting even began, Farrelly said.<\/p>\n
“The movie shows that it’s not really that easy to be an actor sometimes, and it’s just… absolutely surreal,” Ippolito said.<\/p>\n
The Toronto International Film Festival concludes on Sunday, 20 September.<\/p>\n
I Play Rocky will open in Irish cinemas on Friday, 6 November.<\/p>\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n