Throughout several decades, Sylvester Stallone has been one of the most active stars in Hollywood. Action movies wouldn’t be the same without the actor’s performances.
However, Sly has also proven to be a actor who is not always easy to deal with. the star of Rocky rose to fame by writing and starring in the Philadelphia boxer’s first film. But before getting into the ring, Sylvester Stallone had already taken his first steps in other projects.
If we talk about rivalries throughout Sly’s career, the one he had with Arnold Schwarzenegger for more than a quarter of a century is the one that comes to mind first, but it’s not the only one.
In 1974, for example, the actor and another star who would later emerge as a Hollywood heartthrob, Richard Gerethey unleashed all the circles of hell on the set of Happy Days.
The chicken that made Sylvester Stallone get Richard Gere to leave Happy Days
In a round of questions and answers in Ain’t it Cool, back in 2006, Sylvester Stallone recalled the bad relationship that he and Richard Gere had on the set of the movie.
“Yes, the original part of Chico, who was played by Perry King, was supposed to be played by Richard Gere, but we never hit it off. He strutted around in his biker jacket like he was the baddest gentleman at the round table.
One day, during an improv, he grabbed me, we were simulating a fight scene, and he got a little carried away. I calmly told him to relax, but he was completely in character and impossible to deal with.
Then, at a rehearsal in Coney Island, it was time for lunch, so we decided to take a break, and the only warm place was in the back seat of a Toyota. I was eating a hot dog and he came up with half a chicken covered in mustard with grease almost dripping from the foil wrapper.
I said, “That stuff is going to leak everywhere.” He said, “Don’t worry about it.” I told him, “If he gets in my pants, you know about it.” He proceeded to bite into the chicken and a greasy little river of mustard landed on my thigh.
I elbowed him in the head and basically pushed him out of the car. The director had to make a decision: one of us had to go. Richard was shown the door and even today, he continues to resent me.”
A shoot is already a scenario with a lot of tension, rush and setbacks: having two protagonists locked in an eternal fight is not something that directors want to deal with.
Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere had great success in their careers, but they were able to derail them before taking off because of their behavior on the set of that movie.
