He knew his whole life what he wanted to do. He wanted to act in movies. He saw movies as a vehicle not only to escape reality but also as a way to inspire people to overcome their personal obstacles.
He visited with movie agents daily. Was rejected over 700 times. He was told by some that he looked stupid. Even worse, others didn’t even bother to tell him why he was rejected.
Most people would have quit.
After one rejection, he stayed overnight at the site and, because of his insistence, he eventually received his first offer to play a part.
He was cast as a thug. His job was to get beat up. He was only on camera for 20 seconds.
He imagined it might be the beginning of a wonderful acting career. It wasn’t. His rejections continued.
Now he couldn’t pay for heat in his apartment. His wife had enough. She screamed at him to get a job. He didn’t.
He went to the public library because it was warm. While there, he read the work of Edgar Allen Poe.
Poe’s work inspired him. He said, “I learned how I could touch other people and help others.”
Since he wasn’t acting, he decided to write a script.
He sold a script for $100. For him, it was a ton of money for a guy who couldn’t pay for his heat. But, it didn’t lead to anything.
By then, he was so broke he hocked his wife’s jewelry. After that, she hated him.
His dog still loved him, but he couldn’t feed him.
He was forced to sell his dog. He stood outside a liquor store trying to sell his dog for $50. He ended up selling it for $25. He cried as he took the money.
Two weeks later he was watching a fight and got an idea. He wrote for 20 straight hours. He was shaking at the end because he was so excited.
He tried to sell his new script but only received rejections.
He wrote down all the things they said when they rejected him and decided he would read them the night of the Academy Awards when he won an Oscar.
The script still didn’t sell.
Finally, he was offered $125,000 which was more money than he dreamed possible. He agreed to the deal, but with one provision—he required that he would star in it.
The producers wanted Ryan O’Neal instead.
So … no deal and that meant no money.
They came back with a counteroffer—$250,000 if he agreed not to star in his own movie. No deal.
Then they offered $325,000 with the requirement of no starring role.
Rejected that too.
Finally, they compromised. They didn’t think it would work with him in the starring role, but they loved the script. They paid him $35,000 and let him play the lead.
His next step was to hang out for three days in front of that liquor store looking for the guy who bought his dog.
Finally, the guy walked by with his dog. The guy told him he would never sell his dog back to the writer.
There’s always a price. After some negotiations, Sylvester Stallone bought his dog back for $15,000.
The rest of the story…
The movie, Rocky, cost $1 million to make. Rocky grossed $225 million in 1976 and is notable for its worldwide percentage return of over 11,000 percent.
The best part … the dog in the movie was Sly’s actual dog.
Are you unstoppable? Do you stand by your principles so much so that you are willing to take huge risks for what you know is right? Do you make a decision and move heaven and earth to achieve your outcome?
If not, let Sly Stallone be your inspiration.