I think people of all occupations, whether it's the camera - puller or the man who's doing the catering, they can identify with Rambo's frustrations, with the veteran's frustrations.
When I'm doing a movie, I eat the same thing every day. For lunch, it's tuna salad or chicken salad and cole slaw. That's it. For dinner it's either veal and rice, fish and rice or steak and rice. It gets boring; boy, does it get boring.
There might have been a period around 'Tango & Cash' when I was nearly fashionable. My problem is that my weight's always been changing for the movies I'm in.
Often people going into directing want to learn as much as they possibly can about "technique." And I say the hell with that.
Lighting can bring out certain contours in the body, in the face, in the eyes, that otherwise flat lighting couldn't.
When I was cognizant of the war, I was very angry at the street-corner liberals who were trying to defame the footsoldier. Because there was a man who had no choice. He was a cog in the wheel, just trying to survive. I was always aware of that.
To be really artful, though, you have to be subjective and so singular.
The phenomenal thing that happened to me is that I was able to create two memorable men: one is the ultimate optimist, Rocky, and then you have Rambo, the ultimate pessimist. You're going to always be remembered for them, no matter what you do.
If you come into my house, I'm going to fight much more viciously to get you out than if we were on a neutral piece of land.
When I was a kid, my mother used to feed me mashed-potato sandwiches, brussel sprout sandwiches; my brain cells were starving from lack of food. I'll eat anything. I'll eat dirt.
When you're on top and you lead the parade, everyone's there throwing lilies and lilac water on your head. But when those parades have gone by and there's a storm in your heart, there are very few people that are going to sit there and listen to you bemoan life.
I feel that America is like a child that grew up so strong and so fast and so tall that it became self-conscious about its size and started to stoop over so as not to offend anyone.
I've always boxed a certain way. But with Rocky, the character himself had to be kind of awkward. So I had to learn to fight that way.
I'd live in a museum if I could. I used to spend hours and hours in the Museum of Modern Art.
If you look at people that have survived crashing in the mountains and lived up in the snow for 40 days - it's possible to do extraordinary feats.
The body needs to rest. It needs a lot less exercise than you think.
I just fight in my movies, never in real life.
The champion's management says let's do this for real, for charity. Rocky says no but decides to be true to himself even though he's going to be berated by everyone. Just to compete, not to win.
I know I can't play funny roles in movies. I tried, and it didn't work.
Sometimes I write with music on, and if I'm in a good flow, I don't even hear it.
Boxing is a great way to vent. I don't know if there is a better way, I think for women too. There is something so primal about it and it's the best exercise in the world, even if you don't ever get in the ring.
The world meets nobody halfway. When you want something, you gotta take it.
Painting is as close as a person can get to actually capturing the heat of the moment.
And if I look at my icebox, there's no way I'm sitting there looking like Gandhi. I mean, I don't have crickets in there and little green rice. No, I mean it's a pretty liberal icebox. It's all in there.
I abused my body so much throughout my career that I am literally held together by glue. The stuff I took thickens the bones and reinforces the tendons.
