Sylvester Stallone addresses 'devastating' relationship he had with late son

08 November 2023 , 16:47

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Sylvester speaks out about Sage in a new Netflix documentary

Sylvester Stallone has spoken out about the "devastating" relationship he had with his son Sage, who sadly died at 36 years of age.

The 77-year-old actor's new Netflix documentary takes a look into the Rocky star's life after entertaining millions of people for around 50 years. The film, which tells his underdog story and its parallels with the characters he brought to life, also sees him touch on the death of his son and their strained relationship.

Sage died of coronary artery disease in July 2012, he was only 36 years of age. He followed in his father's footsteps beforehand and played the role of Rocky Balboa's son Robert in the 1990 motion picture Rocky V.

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Sylvester Stallone speaks about his son Sage in his new Netflix documentary

And now, Sylvester has spoken of how the Rocky V movie's plot has similar undertones to his and his son's real-life relationship. In the movie, Sage's character Robert felt neglected by his father, who focused his efforts on mentoring a young boxer instead of bringing him up.

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In the documentary, Sylvester says that "unfortunately" aspects of the Rocky V plot were harvested from the real-life relationship between the pair. He adds: "I try to take something that actually is what I wish I had done in real life, but I wasn't able to do that in reality. And so quite often I would do it theatrically, magically, a lot of that is true."

Sylvester then candidly added: "Unfortunately, you put things before your family. And the repercussions are quite radical and devastating."

Sage was found dead in his home on July 13, 2012, he was 36 (WireImage)

The father-and-son duo starred alongside one another in Rocky V (Getty Images)

Sage even spoke out about Rocky V back in 1996. Chatting to US magazine People, he opened up and admitted: "When I was screaming, 'You never spent time with me! You never spent time with my mother,' that was true. I was looking into my father's face and really saying that."

He then noted that after the movie, "everything changed", and they got on a lot better. "I got a lot of things out. We broke into tears a few times. We'd do anything for each other."

Sage was found dead in his home on July 13, 2012, he was 36. According to reports, he had not been heard from for four days prior to his death.

An autopsy by the Los Angeles coroner and toxicology tests determined that the young actor had died of coronary artery disease caused by atherosclerosis, with no drugs detected other than an over-the-counter pain remedy. His funeral took place on July 21, 2012.

Mollie Quirk