Today, one can hardly imagine anyone other than Sylvester Stallone as Rambo. But originally, another actor was supposed to take on the role. Stallone eventually prevailed, but he was far from pleased with the final result.
Why wasn’t Stallone the first choice? Rambo hit theaters in 1982. It was the film adaptation of the novel “First Blood” by David Morrell, which was based on the story of a real soldier.
Before Stallone could celebrate a major success with Rocky (1976), he faced financial problems and even had to sell his dog. Shortly after, he had his breakthrough with another success in Rocky 2 (1979).
In the following years, Stallone became increasingly seen as a financial risk in Hollywood. Aside from Rocky, most of his other films flopped at the box office. Therefore, they were initially reluctant to offer him the role of John Rambo. The producers also believed that Stallone wasn’t a good enough actor.
For this reason, other well-known actors of that time were considered for the role. The list reads like a best-of of male Hollywood stars.
Al Pacino was just the beginning
Who was offered the role? First, the film’s producers approached none other than Al Pacino. The actor had an impressive decade full of film classics behind him in the early 80s.
The two Godfather films, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, or Cruising by William Friedkin, the director of The Exorcist, to name just a few.
However, the collaboration with the Rambo creators failed because Pacino wanted to imbue the role with even more psychological depth. After all, Rambo is a war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The producers found Pacino’s approach too dark, which is why he dropped out of the running.
Another hot candidate for the role was Robert De Niro, who had already dealt with the topic of returning war veterans in films such as Taxi Driver or The Deer Hunter.
Other candidates included stars like John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, Terence Hill, or Dustin Hoffman. In the end, Sylvester Stallone prevailed nonetheless, because director Ted Kotcheff insisted.
Stallone was dissatisfied with the result
How did the story end? When Sylvester Stallone saw the first three-and-a-half-hour cut, he didn’t like it at all. He believed the film would end his career.
Therefore, he attempted to buy the film and destroy all negative copies of it. No one should see him as Rambo. In the end, however, Stallone decided otherwise, and the film was released in theaters.
Today it is considered a classic that spawned four more films. Stallone will forever be associated with the role, and it’s hard to imagine someone else in it. What do you think of his portrayal? Let us know in the comments. Stallone still regrets another film, calling it the “biggest mistake” of his career.
