Sylvester Stallone has not forgotten a decades-old exchange about Rocky that took place at the 1977 Oscars. Speaking to Deadline in a new interview marking the film's 50th anniversary, the 79-year-old actor reminisced about the evening when Rocky was nominated for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, ultimately winning Best Picture.
Stallone recalled being confronted by fellow nominee and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who was also the president of the Writers Guild at the time. "He's a tiny guy, very brazen, and he comes up to me and says, 'You're new in this town,'" Stallone said. "'First of all, your screenplay is never going to win.' I go, 'Why do you say that?' He says, 'Because I'm the president of The Writers Guild, and mine is going to win.'"
Chayefsky, who died in 1981, was correct in his prediction; he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Network that evening. However, the conversation did not end there. "He goes, 'You're not winning Best Picture either, because Network is going to win Best Picture.' I thought, 'Holy crap!' I'd never been hit with such blunt force, and then he walked away. He got Best Screenplay, but we got the big one," Stallone recalled.
Despite the tense exchange, Stallone did not let it define his Oscars experience. "Me being me, it was all quite profound, and after we won, I thought, 'The good news is, I've peaked — and the bad news is, I've peaked,'" he said. "I'd just turned 30 years old and was like, 'How are you going to top this?' But here we are, 50 years later, and we're still talking about it."
Stallone also reflected on another memorable night: being honored at the Kennedy Center in 2025. He was presented the award by President Donald Trump, who mispronounced his name as "Sallone" twice. Stallone, a public supporter of Trump, was named one of Trump's three "special ambassadors" to Hollywood earlier this year, alongside Jon Voight and Mel Gibson.
