The legendary director behind ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’ is the subject of a new documentary by Thom Zimny
Audiences may think they know Sylvester Stallone, but an intimate new documentary will surely prove otherwise.
Cunning premiering on Netflix Nov. 3 and shedding light on the troubled childhood, fame and life regrets of the writer-director-star, 77. PEOPLE has an exclusive new trailer for the Thom Zimny-directed doc, featuring insightful interviews from Rocky actress Talia Shire, brother Frank Stallone Jr., Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quentin Tarantino and others.
“There were tons of moments in our interviews where things that he shared with me were just never discussed or talked about in the press or the research that I did,” Zimny told PEOPLE about filming with Stallone. “I would have these sessions with him where we would talk for four to five hours.”
From the moment he met Stallone, Zimny adds, “I knew I wasn’t going to work in the traditional talking head format because he has too much energy. I wanted to film him standing and put him in his office, where I first met him, and let him have free reign, really no limits.”
Cunning mixes footage of these no-holds-barred conversations in his Los Angeles home with childhood photos, behind-the-scenes footage of his formerRocky film efforts and scenes from many hit films that followed. Stallone talks plainly about navigating the Hollywood spotlight and even listens to his old newspaper interviews, mocking and yelling at his younger self.
Sylvester Stallone kept two turtles from ‘Rocky’ — and now they have 44!
Sylvester Stallone in the movie “Sly”.
Courtesy of Netflix
“He worked a lot on himself to understand who he is as an artist and a family man,” says Zimny. “From the experience of staying in the household and getting a sense of their home during filming, the director recognized in me that he has a great love for his family and his wife,” he adds of Jennifer Flavin, who has been married to Stallone since 1997 and shares a daughter with him. Sophia (27), Sistine (25) and Scarlet (21).
“But the core of his discussions, which I’ve seen time and time again,” says the director, “is the desire to create.” While many associate Stallone with fame on the screen Rocky, Rambo and Consumables film franchise, Zimny says what struck him the most during filming Cunning there were “hundreds and hundreds of notebooks he had.”
“You flip through those notebooks and see his dedication to finishing and editing. That was the biggest surprise, that this whole side of him was not honored in some way.”
He continues, “I suddenly realized that he was this renaissance man who took aspects of his life and spiced them up through all the franchises. And with that, he questioned his own life, but also gave the audience characters who created something that he himself sometimes didn’t feel – mentorship, hope.”
Sylvester Stallone kisses his wife Jennifer Flavin near the iconic ‘Rocky’ steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(686x117:688x119)/sly-netflix-documentary-2-101723-469ca6ba0f2044cd91ce30d326197b6d.jpg)
Sylvester Stallone in the movie “Sly”.
Courtesy of Netflix
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
A quote from Stallone in one of their hours-long conversations helped Zimny connect CunningThematic points of the author: “When you are born, you are like soft clay, and the impressions that the world can give you can sometimes leave a mark… I realized that this would be a key part of the film, to unpack childhood and how it made us.”
Stallone, he says, has spent his life “writing about the universe and the world he didn’t experience as a child.”
“Like the Rocky character, the world didn’t understand him,” adds Zimny. “He had the power of the pen to create a universe that would not only change his life, but inspire generations.”
As Stallone himself stated in the recently released trailer, “I’m in the business of hope.” After the premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Cunning streams on Netflix on November 3rd.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education