Sylvester Stallone On How ‘Rambo’ Nearly Cost Him His Life

Twenty-five years after Sylvester
Stallone first strapped on the headband, he brings his vigilante Vietnam vet,
Rambo, back. And he told Access Hollywood’s Tony Potts recently at the
opening of the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, that returning
to “Rambo” nearly cost him his life.

“There were a lot of you might say ‘people’ trying to dissuade us,” Stallone
told Tony. “There were a lot of threats to myself, to the crew… There were some
formidable death threats.

“The day we landed is when Thailand had their coup,” Stallone continued. “I’m
seeing all these planes leaving and here comes one arriving and that is us.”

Stallone and the crew were warned they would be shot while filming the new
“Rambo” sequel along the war-torn border of Thailand and Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma.

“This is a war that has been going on for 60 years against peasants,”
Stallone said.

“Were you ever scared for your life, afraid for your life?” Tony asked.

“Usually when I was like, at the set or the hotel, you are fine. But I was
worried for people traveling back and forth because things could happen,” he
said.

Now safely back in the states, Stallone unleashed major star power at the
grand opening of the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Among
those who turned up with Stallone to the Planet Hollywood opening? Barbra
Streisand, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Eddie Murphy and fellow action star
Bruce Willis.

“You start out with restaurants and now you are [in to casinos]?” Tony
asked.

“We just thought that this would be the perfect synergy with Planet Hollywood
— maybe even better then the restaurants because this is a really entertainment
oriented hotel,” Stallone said.

His next project? Re-visiting his alter ego — Rocky Balboa — with a musical
twist.

“I was just reading about ‘Rocky: The Musical.’ Tell me about it,” Tony
asked.

“After ‘Rocky Balboa’ succeeded, it gave it a breath of fresh air and now it
is all coming together and they are going to make a fantastic musical,” he said.
“Isn’t that incredible? ‘Rocky’ on Broadway.”

If you saw Access Hollywood on Friday and want to know what
Sylvester Stallone’s advice to young Hollywood is, read on for this Q&A
between Tony Potts and the “Rambo” star.

Tony: What advice would you give young Hollywood?

Stallone: Well you know it would be very hard for me to say
because it has changed so much. It is like my parents telling me do it the way I
did it. ‘Well, you don’t live in my environment!’

I am basically rooting for these people. The main thing is I hope that their
careers last long. I know in this environment there is a great deal of pressure
to perform but also the business is eating people up quickly. Careers are much
more fragile today, much more fragile then they were in my day and I don’t think
you get as many opportunities today.

Tony: It is nice for me when I meet a lot of people, to meet a
kid like Milo Ventimiglia, right?

Stallone: Now there is a guy with head on right. He
understands that this business is fleeting and you have to look ahead. I think
that if anyone believes that they are just gonna be a solitary actor for the
rest of their life and the money and the fame is gonna pour in they are gonna
have a rude awakening.

It does end, it does change and you have to be ready to take those shots on
the chin. Every business — even films has its ups and downs and if you can ride
out that valley you will.

Tony: Do you think those people who go out and pose all the time
are kind of courting [attention]?. So if the paparazzi shows up they should kind
of expect it.

Stallone: I think when you are young flirting with danger is
kind of interesting and kind of fun. It is a game.

Tony: So you think the Britneys of the world and the Paris’ are
kind of playing? They are dancing on the fine line because they
know?

Stallone: Absolutely. Everybody knows what’s right and
wrong. You know that if you eat this it is going to hurt you and if you go there
and play with fire it is gonna get burned, you know it. But there is something
inside of you that says, ‘Look! I am going to live my life, I don’t care. I am
willing to take the slings and arrows and I am not going to be intimidated. I am
going to do what I want to do,’ so it is kind of a rebellious thing. Plus what
are you going to do? It is either that or you stay at home and play parchese
with the dog.

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