"I Play Rocky," a new film which traces the path of a then-unknown Sylvester Stallone fighting to create the movie that would make him a star, premiered Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it garnered a standing ovation. Directed by Peter Farrelly, who won an Oscar for the 2018 film "Green Book," the film recounts Stallone's initial struggles as he tried to break into Hollywood. His big break came when he wrote a screenplay about a boxer who, against all odds, gets his moment in the ring and seizes the opportunity -- a story that reflected his own reality. Poor to the point that he had to sell his dog because he could not afford to feed it, Stallone turned down studio offers for the script over one condition: he would only sell it if he could star in it. "The depth that Stallone had gone to before he made this movie, and the battle was even when he was shooting the movie, it all got me, because I didn't know it all," Farrelly told AFP on the red carpet in Toronto. - 'Just hang in there' - The filmmaker said he aimed to convey the same message in his film as the 1976 original: "Just hang in there, be tough, you take some shots, but if you have integrity, you will win in the end." Shot on a shoestring budget, "Rocky" ended up becoming the highest grossing film of 1976, catapulting Stallone to stardom and garnering 10 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Picture. Before the movie screened, Farrelly personally thanked Stallone for giving his blessing to make the film. "I said from the beginning I'm not going to make the movie unless Sylvester Stallone signs off on it," Farrelly told AFP. "And he read the script and said 'go ahead,' and he saw the movie, he was very happy, thank God." The film stars 27-year-old actor Anthony Ippolito as Stallone, who landed the role by sending in an audition tape before casting even began, Farrelly said. "The movie shows that it's not really that easy to be an actor sometimes, and it's just...absolutely surreal," Ippolito said. TIFF concludes on September 20.
