The man who embodied Rocky Balboa and John Rambo surprisingly found his hardest job to date in Paramount+’s Tulsa King. That’s wild, and I’m not sure if we can blame this on the scorching summer heat, which wasn’t exclusive to Oklahoma by any means, but it sure didn’t make Sylvester Stallone’s job easier.
Stallone previously mentioned his hell-preparing experience, in which he strutted about (while playing a mob boss exiled to Bill Hader’s hometown) in jeans, suit jackets, and a giant belt buckle. Stallone lifted some tiny cups while shooting in downtown Tulsa, but it seems like we haven’t caught a glimpse of any of his heavier lifting yet.
In an Instagram video that presumably shows the Season 1 wrapping moments, Stallone penned a caption about his “very long ,difficult ,exciting, mind blowing production.” He thanked creator Taylor Sheridan (who wrote the role for Stallone), and in the footage, he can be heard declaring, “I never worked so hard in my life… and had so much fun, seriously.” He called the project “extraordinary,” and Stallone added, “Keep punching, love you guys!”
On the subject of punching, Stallone did still have the energy to recently drag Rocky producers, who he called “pathetic” and “moronic” due to the reported Drago spinoff as part of the Creed extension of the franchise. He seems to feel a lot better about Tulsa King, which is certainly a different role than we’ve ever seen him play up so far. Even though he spent a lot of time getting sweaty in Tulsa and OKC (which is considered by many locals to be an enormous truck stop, among other labels), Stallone’s rolling with the punches and headed to our small screens for our viewing pleasure.
Tulsa King premieres on November 13.