Sylvester Stallone Recalls ‘Devastating’ Repercussions of Putting Career Before Family in ‘Sly’ Trailer

Sylvester Stallone is set to take his fans on an intimate journey through his extraordinary life and career with the release of his upcoming documentary, Sly. The trailer for his highly anticipated retrospective documentary was just released, giving audiences a glimpse into the personal and professional life of the legendary action star.

For nearly 50 years, Stallone has been a household name, captivating audiences with iconic characters like Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, and his roles in The Expendables franchise. Sly promises to be a captivating exploration of Stallone’s inspirational underdog story and the indelible characters he has brought to life on the silver screen.

In the recently released trailer, Stallone addresses his family with heartfelt reflections. He candidly admits, “When you’re a truly absorbed filmmaker, you put things before your family, and the repercussions are quite devastating.” He continues, “Now I realize that’s all that f**kin’ matters. I lost everything. Could I actually go back and start over again? Not without family. Without the love of wife or children… what’s this?”

Stallone is a father of five children, including sons Sage, who tragically died in 2012, and Seargeoh, from his first marriage to Sasha Czack. He also shares three daughters — Sophia, 27, Sistine, 25, and Scarlet, 21 — with his wife, Jennifer Flavin.

The documentary made its world premiere as the Closing Night Gala film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The event garnered considerable attention and praise from both critics and fans alike.

At the time, Stallone walked the carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere for Sly and spoke with ET about the raw and candid examination of his career seen in the film, helmed by documentarian Thom Zimny.

“We spent a couple years together and I just let my guard down,” Stallone said of working with Zimny. “I was speaking, quite frankly, like if you only have a limited amount of time on Earth, and you wanted to say things, and you didn’t really guard yourself, and just let it go.”

The film deals with Stallone’s experiences with an abusive father and his late son, Sage, and paints a fuller portrait of the man behind the massive Rocky franchise.

“I’ve seen a lot of documentaries and most of them talk about your body of work, and this one here talks about why you are the way you are,” Stallone said. “Like, who molded you, from what environment, and this is what molds everyone.”

“We don’t ever escape our childhood and certain things are profound, they mark you, and they mold you in the way you perceive life,” he said. “And that’s what this is about.”

According to Stallone, his children led to him coming to his biggest realization, which is that he wasted too much time on other things before really prioritizing his family.

“Every actor feels the time crushing in on them, and eventually it’ll all go away, it’s gonna dissipate. No one remains on top forever. There’s a valley,” he said. “So you fight so hard to keep your career going and get that finite script that’s gonna define your career — but you do it at a great cost. And usually your family is the one that suffers this kind of forced abandonment.”

“Then, as your career begins to weigh in, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve lost the real movie!’ Which is the movie of your life, and these are the characters that play the most profound roles in your life,” he added.

Sly premieres Nov. 3 on Netflix.

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