Sylvester Stallone admitted Monday he switched up a major element in “Rocky II” after he completely tore his pectoralis muscle off the bone.
Stallone revealed the shocking update while sitting with Arnold Schwarzenegger and TMZ’s Harvey Levin. He recalled the time that Franco Columbu, Schwarzenegger’s trainer, challenged him to a weight-lifting competition that nearly cost him everything, just as filming on “Rocky II” was set to begin.
“He goes let’s have a competition with bench press,” Stallone said as he enacted his painful moment. “So I go down and it’s maybe only 200, and I’m just warming up, I hear ‘pow’, I go ‘aaah’ and I fall on the floor and I’m going ‘aah,’ and then Franco goes’ let me see’, and he jams his fingers.”
“I had torn my pec off the bone, I mean bad, I could hear it go rip, and he’s jamming his fingers in, and I think I’m gonna black out,” he said. As a result, he had to make a major adjustment in his role in the film.
Stallone knew the injury was serious.
“So I go home, and I feel like my career is over, I’m supposed to start Rocky two, directed everything, in a month and a half and I’m like you know, I gotta have this thing sewn up,” he told TMZ.
Actor Sylvester Stallone attends a photocall for his movie “Rocky Balboa” on January 8, 2007 at Hotel Ritz in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
Actor Sylvester Stallone waves to the crowd as scenes from the film “Rocky VI” are filmed. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
It was then that he realized he had to think fast and make major changes if he wanted to keep filming.
“I cant use this arm so I’ll change it in Rocky, he’ll fight right-handed,” Stallone said.
He realized hitting with his signature left wouldn’t be physically possible, so he flipped the script. The movie went on to feature Rocky with a right hook, in a very unexpected plot twist.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor/writer/director Sylvester Stallone arrive at the premiere of MGM’s “Rocky Balboa” at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater on December 13, 2006. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
American actor Sylvester Stallone attends the Australian Premiere of “Rocky Bilboa”, the sixth Rocky film in the series, at the St. George OpenAir Cinema at Mrs Macquaries Point on February 17, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images
Actor Sylvester Stallone attends a photocall for his movie “Rocky Balboa” on January 8, 2007 at Hotel Ritz in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
“But I said I’m not stopping this movie just for this, and this is a bad injury. So I switched arms doing rocky it was one of the key things,” he said.
Stallone spoke about pushing through the pain to keep the film in motion. (RELATED: Jake Gyllenhaal Reveals Gruesome Injury He Suffered On Set Of Cult Classic Action Remake)
“And it’s interesting how these incredible journeys happen, but we don’t stop,” he told TMZ.