Sylvester Stallone opens up about a terrifying experience that helped shape the tenacity he carried into adulthood. The 80-year-old actor says he was assaulted by another patient after being sent to a psychiatric ward as a teenager, describing an institution full of disturbing conditions and violent punishment. Stallone said the ordeal taught him that others couldn’t break him, a belief he later carried to New York City and into his difficult early years as an aspiring actor.
Sylvester Stallone tells about his time inside a psychiatric ward
Stallone discussed the traumatic chapter of adolescence while promoting his upcoming memoir, “The Steps,” which is set to be released on September 29.
In an interview with the New York Times, Stallone explained that teenagers who broke school rules could be sent to a very scary place. “In my age group, the teenagers, if you went out to see a girl or something like that, you would be tortured by being taken to a place called Park Lodge or the Snake Pit,” he told the outlet.
Stallone painted a disturbing picture of the conditions he encountered there. “The smell, the dirt, people running around naked, shaking, hands tied, drooling, this is what they thought would influence you not to break the rules again,” he said.
The actor said he was sent to a psychiatric ward for “a couple of weeks”, where the situation became even more serious. “I was attacked there. They tried to rip my hair off,” Stallone said.
The actor mentions a terrifying attack in the bathroom
Stallone said the alleged attack happened after he went into the bathroom while making his way to the facility’s dining hall. He said the other patient was physically frightened and often unclothed.
“He was big, no hair, always bald, rotten teeth,” the actor said. “They called him Jay Bird because he was always naked like a jaybird. And I go into the bathroom on the way to the dining hall, and he comes in and comes around me and he’s like tearing at my throat and he’s going into my pants and grabbing my groin.”
According to Stallone, two guards eventually entered the bathroom and violently intervened. “Then, the two guards come in and they’re beating the skin out of him with razor straps.”
The teenager was apparently left bewildered by what he saw and asked the guards for an explanation, saying, “I go, ‘What the hell is wrong with him?’ And they say, ‘You’re in a crazy house, boy. There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s crazy.'”
The experience left Stallone feeling ‘incredible’
The “Rambo” actor admitted that he entered the psychiatric ward expecting the staff and conditions to destroy his resolve. “I know they’re going to try to break me,” Stallone recalled thinking at the time. However, he said the experience had the opposite effect in the end.
Stallone recalled meeting the school principal after leaving the institution and being asked if he had finally learned his lesson. “When I came out of there and I was standing in front of the principal and he said, ‘Did you learn your lesson?'”
Stallone said that his answer showed a big change in how he saw himself. “I said, ‘I learned a lot more than that lesson. A much better lesson: You can’t break me.’ So when I arrived [New York City in my 20s] and everything that came after that, I always felt that I was invincible in that way. “
That mindset would be especially important as Stallone struggled to establish himself in Hollywood before writing and starring in “Rocky,” the 1976 film that changed his life and launched a decades-long franchise.
Sylvester Stallone says that his body became his ‘weapon’
Elsewhere in the profile, Stallone discussed how his complicated relationship with physical strength extended into his acting career. The Hollywood veteran said he started treating his body as a form of protection. “It was a weapon. I looked at Rocky: a very smooth, very normal guy. And then I said, I think the character would start to become more vain.”
As the franchise continued, Stallone became increasingly focused on creating a leaner and more aggressive look for Rocky Balboa. “So I started thinking: Design your body like a jaguar, a cat. It’s not big like Arnold [Schwarzenegger] but braver and stronger, and weaker and more agile.”
That pursuit eventually became what Stallone described as an obsession. He revealed that he struggled with bulimia while preparing for “Rocky III” and reached a very low body fat percentage. “Then it got to the point where I became bulimic. You heard it here first. I got down to 2.6% body fat when I was doing ‘Rocky III,’ and I couldn’t keep anything down.”
He continued, “Or I didn’t want to keep it down because I became so obsessed with staying at that level of fitness, literally a form of obsessive body worship.”
The ‘Rocky’ star also admitted to using steroids
Stallone also admitted to using steroids to help develop and maintain the muscular frame associated with his most famous characters. “No one does it without supplements and drugs, period,” he said.
The actor argued that it was not really possible to maintain such a realistic appearance for months at a time through restricted diet and exercise. “I don’t care what they say. It’s not like you’re a junkie, but if you’re going to work out and try to stay in shape for six months straight, and you’re eating yogurt and pudding, that’s not happening.”
“The Steps” is expected to explore more of the experiences that shaped Stallone’s life when it is released on September 29.