On the set of “Rocky III”, in which he faced the formidable Mr. T, Sylvester Stallone followed a diet that was radical to say the least, going well beyond his limits.
In 1983, after having twice faced the invulnerable Apollo Creed, and before facing the colossal Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa entered the ring against another formidable opponent: the ruthless Clubber Lang, played by Mr T.
Like his character, Sylvester Stallone prepared for this third opus of the Rocky saga as he had never done before, following a draconian diet and the most demanding physical training.
25 cups of coffee a day!
Indeed, as told by the actor and director of the film in an interview for the Wall Street Journal (in June 2023), he forced himself to eat extremely low-fat meals, washed down with several liters of caffeine!
“I used to drink about 25 cups of coffee a day when I was filming Rocky III”he confided. “(…) For any breakfast, I’d have maybe two oatmeal and brown rice cookies and 10 cups of coffee because I wanted to keep my body fat below 2.8%.”
United Artists
“It was for a good cause.”
This dietary discipline, to say the least severe, associated with intensive sessions of physical exercise, was not without consequences for Stallone’s mind, and in particular his memory:
“I forgot my phone number”he says. “I only ate tuna. My memory was messed up, it was completely gone. I had all kinds of debilitating physical side effects. But it was for a good cause.”
Rocky III is not the only opus of the famous saga in which Stallone pushed his limits. Indeed, in the following part, he was knocked out by a formidable right from Dolph Lundgren, and had to be hospitalized for eight days in intensive care before being able to return to the ring.
(Re)discover our video dedicated to Stallone…