Sylvester Stallone's Iconic Rocky Steps Scene Was a Last-Minute Decision (Extended) | Tonight Show

Welcome back to the show. It's always the best having you here, but I want to talk about you. Well, you are the best. Oh, come on. I love you, and we always talk about New York City. I know you got your start here in Hell's Kitchen, and look at you now. Yeah, it only took me 79 years to go four blocks. There you go. Kind of slow. Kind of slow. Yeah. Tell me about your odd job that you had or when you first started out. Look, when you're broke, you'll take anything. So I was walking down the street. It was about 100 degrees in August. I go, why not get a job cleaning the lion's cages? Now, let me just tell you about this is not cologne we're talking about, right? This is something that's pungent. So I worked there for about three and a half weeks. At the zoo? Yeah, at the zoo. I was hoping this thing would eat me. I couldn't take it anymore. So you go to bed at night. No shower helps. So I go, oh, man, you know, I got to get rid of this. I think I'll get a job cutting the meat at a delicatessen. So I worked with brisk and pastrami. That's even worse than the lion. It depends, yeah. I'm telling you, some serious... I love that. So you know how to slice a good pastrami? I did. But the thing is, they wouldn't let you eat. You could have three ounces a day. That's your free lunch. The thing is to clean it. Guys, you have no idea. Don't ever look at the bottom of a pastrami cooker because you will see hell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can just imagine that. I love the feeling that you have a couple ounces per shift. That's right, three and a half ounces. I worked at a beverage center and they had pretzel sticks, pretzel rods in a thing. It was like 10 cents a pretzel rod. And we were allowed to have any one that were broken. That's right. That was our treat. You can take the broken one. Fully cut your lip. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I loved it. I always talk to you about the documentary, Sly, which I loved. It's fantastic. If you want to see a great documentary about this guy and what it's like to just start from nothing and make it to the top. But you also are coming out with a memoir called The Steps. The Steps. Now this is what I'm talking about. Oh, I know. This comes out in May. What can people expect out of this? Well, you know, The Steps, our life really consists of steps. One step after another, each one of those steps, these steps get higher and harder as you grow older. Trust me, it's all uphill all the way. So when I got to Philadelphia and I did the movie Rocky, I wasn't even thinking about the steps. We didn't have any money to shoot there. We didn't have a license. I just got out of the car. I said, let me just run up the steps, get a shot of it and we'll get out of here before the police come. But the first take I said, let me carry my dog up the steps. My dog is a buffalo. You know, it's 130 pound bull mess. I got halfway up, my knees buckling, I go, dog out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're gonna cut that. Back in the car, pal. Anyway, we did it, it became a very famous scene, but I thought it's also a great name for a biography about the steps you make in your life to arrive. Because guys, trust me, I had zero going. Like I said, I worked at a Lion's Cage deli, just an usher for a year. And the thing is, as long as you, you gotta get to a point like, am I gonna win or is life gonna win? It's a battle, it's a punch out. And it's not easy because you're always under the gun. No one ever really gets ahead of it, but it's the fight you put up that gets you where you wanna go. So you just gotta keep punching. Yeah, that's what I love. You've done almost 100 movies, by the way. I don't know if you even know that. 100 movies, that's pretty great. Is he asking for a refund? No, no, no, no, no, no. No, they're great, they're great. But it also means it might be hard for someone to choose which one of your movies to watch. If I'm gonna watch a Sylvester Stallone movie, which one do I watch? So I thought it'd be fun, if we could play a game tonight, maybe you could help pick the movie that we're gonna watch tonight. The Sylvester Stallone, I'll show you a couple movies, okay? Stop. Yes, and then by the end, Because, you know. We will have the greatest movie that we need to watch according to the one and only Sylvester Stallone. Ready? This is good. First movie matchup, okay? Okay. Which one would you choose? Rocky IV or Creed? Rocky IV, for sure. Really? Rocky IV. Well, it's like my baby, you know. That was your, yeah, Drago, that was. Yeah, I mean, come on. Yeah, that was. Anybody that puts you in the hospital, you don't want to forget. You gotta, yeah, you bled for this movie. All right, good, all right. Now we have. First Blood. Yeah. Lords of Flatbush. Well, it says, when was the last time someone gave you a hickey? You know how hard they are to get off, so I'd stick with this one. Okay, all right. I love Lords of Flatbush, too. All right, First Blood, of course. This is me. All right, how about this one? This one is The Expendables or Spy Kids 3. Well, as I get older, I think I'm going to have to change the name to Dependables, okay? So I would stick with Spy Kids. All right, come on. The last one. Okay. Cliffhanger or Rocky. Wow, let me think. Rocky! That was tricky, you. I know it's tricky of me, yeah. I think out of all, I mean, come on. This is just unbelievable. I can't even, I can't even get down to it. It's just too great. I'm telling you, that's why I wrote the book, because if it could happen to me, it can happen. Do you watch it at all? Do you ever put it on? I do, I do, because you sort of lose a certain amount of innocence as you get older. You know what I mean? You learn tricks. Obviously, you've got your system down. You just become more proficient, and I like to go back and look at things where you really didn't know exactly what you were doing. You're just scrappy. You don't know how to walk cool. You definitely know how to walk. Yeah, things like that. So it's nice to go back and see what you were before sometimes. Well, I love that you're just crushing it again with Tulsa King. It's fantastic. Still 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Still fresh. Wow. Your character is amazing. Did you know that Dwight is gonna, you're gonna be able to help him? No, no, no, no. Again, it's like steps. You take one step, and you think, is it gonna work or not? And I just thought there's been so many good gangsters throughout the era, and the Pacino, and the Sopranos, and everyone had their own style, but the one thing I didn't see that was so prevalent was a certain kind of odd sense of humor, like dark humor. So I said, why don't I just play myself as a gangster? And believe it or not, folks, the hardest thing to do quite often in acting is to really be yourself, because you feel like you have to perform. Oh, I'm not working hard enough. When in doubt, shout. You know, a lot of actors get louder, and they think it's acting, when it's just the opposite. The quieter you get, the more you draw people in. So I just decided to go a certain way and just actually be myself. And if that didn't work, I'd just go home and beat the ---- out of myself. No, come on. The whole cast is back this season, including someone you know very well, your daughter, Scarlett, right there. Come on. That's my pal. She's great, by the way. Oh, she's fantastic. I mean, I'm starting to learn from her. Yeah, I was gonna ask you, because on set, do you ever go up to her and go, honey, I would probably do it this way or look at that? I did, I did, until she said, I think I got it, Dad. No, because, I mean, basically, she was raised on a movie set. This is her world, and she just took to it. Because it's a certain kind of hunger and need to want to do this, because it's not easy, as you know. Performing is, I hope it works tonight, I hope it works tonight. Not to say that any of you couldn't do it. It's just, you got to try it to see if it feels natural. And she's crushing it, she's scoring. Oh, she's so good. And then you got another awesome player this year, Samuel L. Jackson. Oh. Come on. How could Tulsa King get better? It doesn't. Did you guys know each other before this? Yeah, well, you know, we live about four houses away. Is that right? Yeah, I was waiting for him to come over and borrow a cup of sugar. Yeah, nothing. Nothing, no, no. We've known each other a long time, but I was always hoping we'd get to work together, but he's such a big star and he has such an agenda himself. So when this was proposed, I went, you're kidding. Because it's like a heavyweight fight, you know what I mean? You finally got somebody, you know, can kick the hell out of you, you know? So you got to be on your game. He's great, huh? To work with? Yeah, he's great. He ups your own game, too, right? He was so funny. Yeah, wait till you see how cool he is in this. Yeah. Well, season three isn't even out yet, but we have exciting news to share. Tulsa King has already renewed for season four. That's what I'm talking about. I want to show everyone a clip here. Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King. Take a look at this. You know, it's very disrespectful when you don't share with your real family. Don't have to paint a picture for you. No, Ray. You can keep all the paint out of this and get the picture. And you're right. Sharing's good. As long as you're sharing with somebody you want to share with. You know, luck isn't permanent. Nothing is, Ray. Good seeing you. Yeah, good seeing you. Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Sylvester Stallone, everybody! Season three of Tulsa King, premieres tonight on Paramount+. We'll be right back with Marlon Wayans, everybody. Stick around. Get ready for some...