It’s hard to imagine a more daunting task than playing Sylvester Stallone, one of the most recognizable and beloved actors in cinema history, whose distinctive voice, physicality and larger-than-life screen presence have become ingrained in popular culture. But Anthony Ippolito makes it look almost effortless in I Play Rocky, Peter Farrelly’s tremendously entertaining new film about the making of the 1976 classic that changed Stallone’s life forever.
Ippolito is nothing short of extraordinary in the role, capturing Stallone’s unmistakable mannerisms, famously slurred speech and imposing physicality with such remarkable precision that it’s easy to forget you’re watching someone else portray him. But what makes his performance so impressive is how effortlessly he manages to look beyond those recognizable characteristics to find the vulnerable, deeply insecure young man underneath, one whose seemingly unshakable determination to succeed masks a lifetime of rejection, disappointment and humiliation. It’s a complex, incredibly nuanced portrayal that never feels like an impersonation, and easily ranks among the best performances of the year.
Written by Peter Gamble and directed by Farrelly, I Play Rocky takes audiences back to the early 1970s, long before Stallone became an international superstar. At the time, Stallone was a struggling actor living in New York City, desperately attempting to find work in an industry that continually dismissed him, often because of his unconventional appearance and speech, both of which were affected by a birth complication that left him with partial facial paralysis.
After years of rejection, Stallone decided to take matters into his own hands, writing the screenplay for Rocky, a story about a down-on-his-luck boxer who gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship. Inspired in part by Muhammad Ali’s legendary fight against Chuck Wepner, Stallone famously completed the first draft in just a few days, subsequently attracting interest from producers who wanted to purchase the screenplay. There was just one problem: they didn’t want Stallone to star in it.
What followed was a remarkable battle between an unknown actor who refused to relinquish control of his creation and an industry that was more than happy to buy his work but reluctant to give him the opportunity to bring it to life himself. Despite being offered a substantial amount of money for the screenplay, Stallone stood his ground, eventually securing the lead role in a film that would go on to become the highest-grossing release of 1976 and win three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
It’s one of the greatest underdog stories in Hollywood history, and Farrelly brings it to life with an abundance of humor, warmth and affection for the original film, while Ippolito anchors the entire experience with a deeply empathetic performance that makes an already familiar story feel surprisingly immediate.
I Play Rocky had its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received a rapturous response from audiences, with applause erupting throughout the screening before culminating in a standing ovation. For Ippolito, who was experiencing the film on the big screen with an audience for the first time, it was an unforgettable experience.
“It was really, really incredible,” he says. “That was such a great audience. You could tell that they really love films at that festival, and it was just really great to feel that energy.”
Ippolito, who previously portrayed a young Al Pacino in Paramount+’s The Offer, is no stranger to playing real-life Hollywood legends. But while Pacino and Stallone are both instantly recognizable figures whose performances have influenced generations of actors, I Play Rocky presented a rather unique challenge. The Stallone depicted in the film is not the larger-than-life action star audiences have come to know, but rather a young man still trying to figure out who he is, what he wants and how he can possibly achieve it.
For Ippolito, that distinction was essential to understanding the character and ensuring that his performance went beyond simply recreating Stallone’s familiar mannerisms.
“I think almost disregarding the star that he was to become and not really going into that, because that’s not what this movie is about,” he explains when asked how he approached the role. “This movie is about a young man dealing with a tremendous amount of adversity.”
“He had facial paralysis from his birth, the accident, and what that kind of did for him and the judgment that he endured through that, and just trying to make it as an actor and having no money in the bank,” he continues. “It’s more so a story about a man trying to figure this stuff out than it is about all of that other stuff. So just keeping the focus on that.”
And that approach pays off tremendously. While Ippolito’s physical transformation is undeniably impressive, having spent roughly a year and a half training to develop the muscular physique associated with Stallone, it’s the emotional vulnerability he brings to the role that makes his performance so affecting. His Stallone is fiercely ambitious, stubborn and occasionally difficult, but he’s also a young man painfully aware of how the world perceives him, constantly forced to prove himself to people who have already decided he isn’t worth taking seriously.
There’s something particularly moving about watching him navigate those rejections, especially knowing what the future holds for him. Ippolito manages to capture the frustration and desperation of a struggling artist without ever allowing the character to become self-pitying, while also conveying the extraordinary conviction required to turn down the kind of money that could have completely transformed his circumstances. In many ways, the film’s most compelling moments aren’t necessarily those in which Stallone finally gets his way, but those in which he appears to be on the verge of losing everything and still refuses to compromise.
The relationship between Stallone and his wife Sasha Czack, played by AnnaSophia Robb, is another important element of the film, with Robb delivering a beautifully understated performance as a woman who supports her husband’s ambitions even as their financial circumstances become increasingly precarious. Elsewhere, P.J. Byrne and Toby Kebbell are terrific as producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, while Jay Duplass portrays Rocky director John G. Avildsen and Stephan James takes on the role of Carl Weathers, who famously played Apollo Creed in the original film.
As much as I Play Rocky is a celebration of one of Hollywood’s most enduring cinematic achievements, it’s also an affectionate tribute to the creative process itself, particularly the determination required to bring something deeply personal into the world without allowing it to be compromised along the way.
One of the film’s most memorable elements is its depiction of Stallone writing Rocky entirely by hand, filling the pages of a red Mead notebook with a screenplay that would eventually change the course of his career. It’s an image that feels especially powerful today, at a time when the increasing presence of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies has prompted widespread conversations about creativity, authorship and the future of filmmaking.
Ippolito agrees that there’s something particularly timely about revisiting Stallone’s story through that lens.
“That’s one of the most remarkable things about this, and I think it’s why it’s so timely,” he says. “He wrote it longhand with a Bic pen into a red Mead notebook, and you get to see the process of him writing this longhand, the whole thing.”
“I think there’s something so tangible and organic about that, and you see the creative process happening and what that is,” he continues. “Hopefully it inspires people in some way to do the same.”
There’s something incredibly satisfying about the idea that one of the most iconic films ever made began with nothing more than a man, a notebook and an idea that nobody else initially believed in. And while the story of Rocky has been told and retold countless times over the past five decades, I Play Rocky gives audiences an opportunity to appreciate just how extraordinary Stallone’s determination really was, particularly when considering the financial and personal sacrifices he was willing to make in order to protect his work.
That same determination is reflected, somewhat fittingly, in Ippolito’s own journey to landing the role. After learning that Farrelly was developing a film about the making of Rocky, Ippolito decided to record an unsolicited audition tape in his grandmother’s basement, despite not having been approached for the part. He subsequently sent additional tapes after receiving the screenplay, eventually winning over Farrelly and securing what will undoubtedly be remembered as a defining role in his career.
For an actor who has spent much of his career playing supporting roles, including his breakout performance as George Wright in Netflix’s criminally underrated teen drama Grand Army, I Play Rocky feels like an enormous leap forward. It’s a star-making turn in every sense of the word, and one that demonstrates just how much Ippolito is capable of when given the opportunity to carry a film of this scale.
And speaking of Grand Army, the short-lived but much-beloved Netflix series continues to hold a special place in the hearts of its fans, many of whom were devastated when the show was canceled after just one season. Created by Katie Cappiello, the series followed a group of teenagers attending a Brooklyn public high school as they navigated everything from friendship and relationships to identity, featuring an impressive ensemble of young actors who have since gone on to accomplish some pretty remarkable things.
Among them is Odessa A’zion, who played Joey Del Marco opposite Ippolito’s George Wright and has since established herself as one of the most exciting young actresses working today, most recently delivering a phenomenal performance in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme.
Asked whether he and A’zion have had an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on how far they’ve both come since their Grand Army days, Ippolito reveals that the two recently caught up over dinner.
While Grand Army may have ended far sooner than it deserved to, it’s incredibly gratifying to see its talented young cast continue to flourish, particularly Ippolito, whose performance in I Play Rocky deserves to open countless doors for him. It’s a tremendously assured, deeply moving turn that goes far beyond physical resemblance or vocal imitation, revealing an actor capable of bringing remarkable emotional depth to a character audiences may have thought they already knew.
And much like the man he’s portraying, Ippolito has proven that sometimes the most important opportunity is the one you’re willing to fight for yourself.
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