Summary
- “Don’t do your own stunts,” warns Sylvester Stallone, who suffered a fractured neck filming
The Expendables
. - Stallone has had to have several surgeries after disobeying his own advice on stunts.
- Stallone’s family has revealed the pain the action star has suffered behind the scenes.
Action movie legend Sylvester Stallone may play a tough guy in the movies, but in real life the 77-year-old icon has suffered a barrage of injuries, including a fractured neck, thanks to his role in The Expendables. Now, Stallone is warning his peers to do as he says, and not as he does, by saying, “Don’t do your own stunts,” after it was revealed that the actor has had to undergo seven back surgeries and counting due to the injury he suffered on the set of the 2010 movie, which he also directed.
As per People, Stallone is seen prepping for his seventh back surgery in the first episode of Season 2 of his reality series, The Family Stallone, which is currently airing on Paramount +. The initial injury came at the hands of WWE wrestling legend ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, when Austin slammed Stallone into a wall, dislocating his shoulders, and fracturing his neck. Stallone called the choice to do his own stunts “stupid.”
“I did stupid stuff. I was directing
Expendables and, like an idiot, I’m doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam and I could actually feel one bang.”
Stallone, who also suffered a serious injury on the set of Rocky 4 back in 1985, would go on to say that Austin knew right away that he was injured. He commented that he “never recovered” from The Expendables, and warns others in his position against doing their own stunt work.
“Steve knew. I never recovered from [
Expendables
]. After that film, it was never physically the same. So I warn people, ‘Don’t do your own stunts.'”
Sylvester Stallone Doesn’t Talk About His Surgeries
During the same episode of The Family Stallone, which debuted on Paramount + February 21, Jennifer Flavin, Stallone’s wife of more than 20 years, commented that the Tulsa King actor doesn’t like to reveal to people that he’s had so many back surgeries. She said that whenever he has to go under the knife, it’s a “scary time” for the family. She hopes his seventh go around will be the one to improve his quality of life.
“He doesn’t like people to know he’s had so many back surgeries. It’s very scary for our family every time Sly has to go through surgery, because you never know…no one knows. I hope this is the one to help him live a more comfortable life.”
As for the rest of Stallone’s family, his daughter, Scarlet, revealed that the entirety of her childhood was spent seeing her father in pain. While Stallone did what he could to be a decent role model, she said she couldn’t imagine being in that much agony “every waking moment.”
“It’s really hard to see my father go through yet another painful operation. My whole childhood, he was in pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain and be present, but I couldn’t imagine every waking moment you are just hurting.”
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Sylvester Stallone will be seen next in the upcoming film Armored, starring alongside Jason Patric in the action crime thriller about a father and son who work as security guards for an armored truck company that must fend off a group of robbers to clinch their survival. His other Paramount + series, Tulsa King, was heavily delayed thanks to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, and will not be returning until 2025.
The Family Stallone
Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Paramount +
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