The Lords of Flatbush is a drama movie from 1974 starring none other than Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone. The 70s movie housed other names like Perry Mason and Henry Winkler, but you may not know that Richard Gere was once attached.
Gere was originally meant to join the cast as Chico, but things went south between himself and his most important co-star on set pretty quickly, and movie history diverted its course.
Gere would have made it into the final cut of the movie, had it not been for his immediately tense relationship with the face of cinema’s most iconic sports movies.
At a Rocky Q&A [via Ain’t it Cool], Stallone held no punches, “He would strut around in his oversized motorcycle jacket like he was the baddest knight at the round table. One day, during an improv, he grabbed me (we were simulating a fight scene) and got a little carried away. I told him in a gentle fashion to lighten up, but he was completely in character and impossible to deal with.”
Stallone then shared an anecdote from behind the scenes where Gere’s food dripped on him, “a small, greasy river of mustard lands on my thigh. I elbowed him in the side of the head and basically pushed him out of the car.”
“The director had to make a choice: one of us had to go, one of us had to stay. Richard was given his walking papers and to this day seriously dislikes me. He even thinks I’m the individual responsible for the gerbil rumor.”
For more Sly, check out how to watch the Rocky movies in order. Or, see what new movies are coming and revisit the best movies of all time.