Rocky 3 star Sylvester Stallone details his brutal diet to get into shape for the 1982 film, which was so limiting he ended up experiencing memory issues. After the breakout success of the first Rocky in 1976, Stallone's titular boxer would return for a number of sequels. The third film, directed by Stallone himself, sees reigning champion Rocky Balboa facing off against a young and motivated challenger in the form of Mr. T's James "Clubber" Lang.
In a recent interview with WSJ, Stallone reflects on the harsh diet he was on to get in shape for Rocky 3. It was so brutal, in fact, that the actor started experience severe memory loss and, at one point, couldn't remember his own phone number. Check out Stallone's full comment below:
“I am [a coffee drinker], but I keep getting reflux, so I have to cut it down. I used to drink about 10 cups a day. Actually, I used to drink about 25 cups a day when I was doing ‘Rocky 3’. My entire breakfast would be maybe two [small] oatmeal cookies made with brown rice and 10 cups of coffee because I wanted to keep my body fat down to 2.8%.
“I was forgetting my phone number. I was eating just tuna fish. My memory was shot, it was completely gone. I was getting all kinds of debilitating physical effects. But it was for the cause.”
Why Stallone's Physique Was So Important In The 1980s
Sylvester Stallone fighting Mr. T in Rocky 3.
Along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone was one of the key figures in ushering in a new era for a certain type of action movie star. While the Rocky franchise isn't necessarily an action movie franchise, the reigning idea at the time was that male leading actors of a certain age for certain types of roles should be as muscular as possible. That's not to mention that fact that Stallone and Schwarzenegger had developed something of a rivalry in the early '80s.
After Conan The Barbarian in 1982, Schwarzenegger announced himself as a major star in Hollywood and his physique was truly one-of-a-kind. Schwarzenegger would go on to appear in The Terminator, Commando, and Predator, with each film featuring a more chiseled and buff version of the star than the last. Stallone has been open about the rivalry that quickly developed between him and Schwarzenegger, with muscles, movie killcounts, gun size, box office, and body physique being the key factors.
Although Stallone doesn't directly reference this competition in his comment about his Rocky 3 diet, the film came at a time when the concept of what the ideal action movie star looks like was changing. Stallone would largely maintain this ripped physique for subsequent Rocky movies, but it's unclear if he ended up developing healthier ways of achieving it. Rocky 3 may not be the best movie in the franchise, but Stallone was evidently committed to ensuring that his character looked the part of a reigning Heavyweight Champion.
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