Did You Know - 'Rocky' Edition

72 Hard-Hitting Facts About the 'Rocky' Movies

4. Other than Burt Young (Paulie), none of the primary actors in Rocky were the first choice. Producers wanted Lee Strasberg for Mickey, but he wanted too much money. Burgess Meredith, a professional actor since the 1930s, stepped in. Boxer Ken Norton was lined up to play Apollo, but he dropped out at the last minute to go on the ABC show Superstars. Carl Weathers auditioned shortly after and got the part, even though he insulted Stallone’s acting during his read through and lied about having boxing experience.

6. Shooting in Philadelphia was done on a shoestring. There was no honeywagon, no catering, and no trailers. All exterior shots were lit exclusively with natural light, and pizza was the only on-set meal — for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

28. A writer for Philadelphia magazine calculated that Rocky’s run in the movie’s montage would have been 30 miles long as he bounced around the city in a seemingly illogical way. That have been a ridiculously long run for Rocky, much less the 800 school children who followed him through the streets during the montage.

37. Johnny Carson was so impressed by Hulk Hogan’s performance as Thunderlips that he booked the then unknown wrestler on The Tonight Show. It’s a good thing, too, because Vince McMahon fired the young wrestler from the WWF for appearing in the movie when he was supposed to be wrestling.

39. The climatic fight between Rocky and Clubber Lang is the only one in the series that doesn’t go a full 15 rounds. It’s over in three.

47. Lundgren also roughed up Carl Weathers during their fight, at one point picking him up and throwing him into the corner. As Stallone remembers it years later, Weathers jumped out of the ring and threatened to quit because of the Swede.

48. Paulie’s robot was built by a company called International Robotics to help work with autistic children. Stallone’s son is autistic, and after inviting the robot into his home, Stallone wrote it into his movie. The robot’s voice, both male and female versions, is provided by International Robotics founder Robert Doornick.

49. When Rocky goes to the frozen Russian tundra to prepare for his fight against Drago, he’s actually in Wyoming. The final fight, set in a large Russian city, was filmed at the Agrodome Arena in Vancouver.

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