How I Prepared to Interview Sylvester Stallone: transcript

There's only two things I watch to get motivated every year, and one of them's Rocky, so. >> I appreciate. I thought you were going to ask for a refund. >> [laughter] >> I'm glad. Okay, great. >> I never got to see him in the theaters, so. >> [music] >> I'd really have to think to find a character more inspiring than Rocky. When I saw Rocky get rejected and be underestimated, that's how I felt being underestimated and rejected. I feel like Rocky trained me in what mindset, and that's why I watch it every [music] year. And I watch it because it programs my brain to want to go and do stuff.

I've interviewed a lot of incredible people, people I admire, people I respect, but it's rare that you get to sit down with one of your personal heroes. Sylvester Stallone is someone that I watched as a kid. Rocky's what I watched as a kid. It's a series that has actually impacted me in my philosophy of life. Welcome to On Purpose. >> much. >> How much of this do we need to record? >> There's 29 strips. It's about the same length of a solo. >> Yeah.

>> So, probably about a half hour. >> Okay, great. All right. Let's do this. >> The job that pays you and the work that fulfills you are not always the same thing. >> We're going to take a red eye tonight, land, then take a helicopter to the Hamptons. >> Wait, you agreed to do it at his house? >> Yeah, at his house. >> That's super cool. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm super excited. I like the one of I grew up watching Rocky over and over cuz I feel like it's good to establish that. >> That you're a fan. >> top of the list. I think that's good. >> I think I've watched the Rocky franchise more than any franchise >> Really?

>> in history. watch it at least once a year. >> Really? >> Yeah. The whole thing. >> Oh, wow. >> so pumped up. >> Never get sick of it? >> I used to watch it with my dad growing up, so I have like really good memories. So, yeah. I think I'm going to start with that. >> I think it was Rocky V that like really flopped. >> Rocky V gets such a bad rap, but I'm such a fan. Like, I love the storyline. >> There's so much. That's why this interview was originally 60 questions cuz >> [laughter] >> Uh, I definitely had more kind of philosophical questions like that. >> [laughter] >> Emily, bring them back. I want the philosophical questions.

>> What's What are you going to do now today leading up to when we have to depart? >> So, we just had a full day of filming today. We recorded two solos, recorded for some of our ad partners, some of our educational content. I'm probably going to go get a workout in. >> All right. >> Road [music] trip? >> Off we go. >> New York? No, the Hamptons. >> Yeah, so the the crazy podcast >> trips I've done before. >> Yeah. >> So, last year I flew to Byron Bay for 36 hours. Spent the night there, interviewed Chris Hemsworth, hung out with him, and then flew back. But, the craziest trip I've ever done, I was in Cannes, flew to London to fly back to DC to attend a private event at the White House when President Biden was in office. I attended that event for 4 hours, then flew back to London to interview Tom Holland. It was so worth it. That was one of our biggest interviews ever.

>> Do you get road rage, Shane? >> I'm probably causing road rage most of the time. [laughter] How old was Sylvester Stallone when he met the fortune teller? >> Probably 22. >> Right. And so, he doesn't make Rocky until he's 30. >> Until he had to. >> That's the question I want to ask him is, did it mess him up that it took that long, or did he have faith because he knew it was going to work? >> [music] [music] [music] >> Did you get a good sleep though? You guys look tired.

>> I'm not. My body's weird. Like, if I sleep a couple of hours, I'll be wide awake. >> I don't think we get it till 6:10, so we've got like an hour. >> Oh, wow. >> Yeah, I'll go to sleep again. >> [music] >> Hey guys, I'm running late. >> Amazing. I want to see. >> How long do you generally >> Um it should be like 40. >> That makes sense. >> Mhm. >> Stop raising your hands and having thoughts.

>> Oh god. >> [music] [music] >> So, we were on a plane to East Hampton, which is where Sylvester Stallone lives. But, we were going into the eye of a thunderstorm. >> Pretty heavy rain, large hail. >> Tornado warning.

>> Very heavy rain. >> Powerful winds. [music] >> Flash flooding. >> So, it was not as smooth as we as we thought it was going to be, but here we are. >> You You looked a little nervous. >> When we were like spinning around going lower and he's like, "Guys, there's a [laughter] thunderstorm right >> [music] >> Things we do for Instagram. It's so funny how it looks so glamorous when you're like hanging out with the person, you [laughter] get good pictures, and then >> Yeah.

>> This is like the real >> It's a real journey. Do you fall asleep easily like at home like that? >> Yes, mostly, yeah. It's bio-optimized magnesium. >> Oh. >> So, I'm going to have a hot shower and change into >> And into the heavens. >> Yeah. We were in that car for 2 hours after taking a half an hour flight. >> [laughter] >> Uh helicopter. >> Ow. >> [snorts] >> Hopefully you got that.

>> [laughter] >> I did. >> Here's a production tip. >> Yep. >> You just go over to stuff. >> Mhm. >> You just do this. And it makes it look like you're doing stuff. >> Well, we're going >> While Steve does all the hard work, I then go over here, touch something else, and no one knows, you know, the difference. >> See, it's the sweat that really makes a difference, you know. [laughter] >> Correct. >> Sorry I'm a beginner. >> Hey, you totally >> I knew you had good taste in men. >> I know, you know. >> What's up, man?

Good, man. Good to see you. >> Man, say hello to the whole crowd. >> Yeah, of course. >> Absolutely. I love to. >> Be on your best behavior, this guy. >> [laughter] >> Nice to meet you. Finally nice to meet you. Nice to finally meet you. >> Nice to meet you. It's a pleasure. Thank you for having me. >> Michael. >> [laughter] >> Hey, hey. >> I was like, "Dad, you have to meet with Jay."

>> It's because of you guys, I owe you. >> No, it's because of you guys. >> Thank you for having us. Thank you, beautiful wife. >> You're welcome. >> Would you like anything to eat? We have extra bagels. >> Book's amazing. >> Congratulations. >> Oh, thank you. >> Book's fantastic. Yeah, I got to get a copy in. >> I thought it was absolutely brilliant. >> It's hard to squeeze all of that life into a book, so I don't know. >> I think it's a lot of work, and a lot of flashbacks. You know, I don't know. Everyone has a dramatic movie in them, you know, and and everyone has lived through all these different trials and tribulations, so it's not as though it's a you're unique in this world. But what what made it interesting was this period of coming to America, literally like almost from an alien from another planet. You don't know one person, you have no money, you have no future, you have no skill. You have zero. And you go, "Okay.

Now hit it. What do I All right, on your mark, get set, go." >> Yeah. >> So you're you're at the starting line of failure. >> Yeah. I'm saving all my I'm holding back right now. I'm like, "That's so many questions." >> [laughter] >> No, no, no, you can I'm going to I'm burning >> [laughter] >> That's it. All right, I'm heading back. Yeah, that's it. That's the clip. We got it. We're heading back now. >> Is that Sylvester Stallone? >> Yeah, Sylvester Stallone. >> Is he really? >> Sylvester >> Really? >> Sylvester >> [laughter] >> Yeah, Sylvester Stallone.

>> They have breakfast with Sylvester Stallone. >> [laughter] >> I'll let you finish up. Thank you. Thanks for letting us come crash. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Nice meeting you, man. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah, thank you. We are 40 minutes away from Bleak. It's so nice of him to welcome you into their home. It's just like, you know, I'm laughing. I just found it so beautiful, too. Like, just, you know, to have like his wife and everyone just be so excited and casual about it. And yeah, me and his daughter started following each other like eight years ago or something. So, I've never met them. So, that was nice. But yeah, when someone welcomes you like that, it's just so makes you feel so at ease.

>> Yeah. >> One of my friends said to me the other day, he was like, [clears throat] "God, you've interviewed everyone now." And I was like, "Yeah, but I haven't interviewed many of like my own idols, Eminem, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Sylvester Stallone would be in that list. These are like my kind of like personal icons. So, this is one of those lists, which is cool. >> Do you have like a physical list? Like, do you write these down? >> Yeah. Oh, I had a list of 300 people that I wanted to interview and meet when I moved to LA. I've met everyone and I've interviewed 297 on that list.

Sylvester Stallone, welcome to Unqualified. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> [music] >> All the best with the lion. It's going to be incredible. It felt so casual the whole time. >> Aw, so happy. They're so cute. They had such a long breakfast all together. >> Yeah, it's so sweet. Yeah. >> So sweet. >> All right, that's the life, though. That's when you know you've made it. >> What are you going to remember most or take away from that interview?

>> Just how kind he was, how present he was, how thoughtful he was. [music] >> You have to be the architect of your life. You have to build it. You have to create it and you have to live it. >> I love that he said that he never believed he'd be here right now. And the reason I love that is cuz that's how I feel about my place where I'm at in life. And so, I love meeting people who didn't really have that grand of a dream or ambition. Like, he was like, "Yeah, I would have been happy if I just became an actor." And I'm like, "Yeah, that's how I feel."

Like, I would have just been happy if I got paid to speak at companies and you know, I would have been just happy with that. I didn't need all of this. But now I'm like blown away by it. And so, it's nice meeting people that you look up to that have similar philosophies of life. >> The impact that Rocky had on me is the impact that I hope my content has on other people. >> [music] >> I want you to feel moved, motivated, inspired. I want you to know that you're just one rejection away from a yes. I want you to know that [music] consistency beats everything. I want you to know that if you do what you were born to do, if you're aligned with the impact you want to make in the world that you will make it. And I want you [music] to know that everyone that you admire and look up to has walked that path. As the Stoics [music] would say, the obstacle is the way. There is no other way. And so, if you're failing, if you're getting rejected, if it's not working [music] out, you're on the path.

You're already in the right direction.