Sylvester Stallone is not a funny screen presence. That doesn’t feel like a controversial take. There are plenty of great Sylvester Stallone films, but we love them for their physicality and drama rather than how much the dude makes us chuckle. He has made lots of the best action movies ever, but none of the best comedy movies.
To be fair, though, Stallone is well aware of his shortcomings in the funny bone world. In a 1993 interview with the New York Times, he reflected on the high-profile box office disasters of some of his worst movies, including Rhinestone and the infamous Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
“I know I can’t play funny roles in movies. I tried and it didn’t work. I don’t see myself as Rocky or Rambo. I see myself, sometimes, as a funny guy. There’s a different side to my personality,” he said.
Stallone added: “But when I tried to extend that image on screen I brought too much baggage with me. So I put my creative ego back in the suitcase.”
Stallone knows that his physicality is a part of it, adding that “Woody Allen wouldn’t be believed as Rambo” if he tried to play the action hero role. We certainly can’t argue with that. But there’s another problem – and it’s that famously booming voice.
Stallone said: “My voice is deep, too deep for comedy. It’s a dark voice. Definitely too low. Voices are like fingerprints, from Cagney to Bogart. They never lost it. My voice is instrumental in categorizing me.”
Fortunately, Stallone’s take-away is not to become despondent at his shortcomings, but to embrace his strengths. He said: “I don’t look at [bad movies] as bombs so much as eye-openers into the impact films have in stereotyping individuals. I’m a stereotype. I can’t break away from that.”
We wouldn’t have Stallone any other way, and we’ll keep on loving his best movies every time we settle down to enjoy the Rocky movies in order. Never change, Sly! We can’t sit through those comedies ever again.
For more on his incredible career, find out how Stallone used Rambo to get out of a speeding ticket and learn why Stallone screwed up the ending of a Schwarzenegger movie. You can also find out about the latest Rocky outing in our Creed 3 review.