American actor Sylvester Stallone spoke about the loss of his son, “Sage,” in his new documentary on Netflix, after he passed away at the age of 36, due to coronary artery disease in 2012.
Sage’s death came after he played the role of Robert, Rocky’s son, in the movie Rocky V.
In the second part of the film, Robert feels neglected as his father, played by Stallone, focuses his efforts on mentoring young boxer Tommy Gunn. These are scenes that the 77-year-old actor says “unfortunately” happened in real life between Sage and Stallone.
The three-time Oscar-nominated actor said: “I try to take something from reality, or something that I wish I had done in real life, but I didn’t. And a lot of times I get my wishes fulfilled in a theatrical and magical way through films.”
At the time of Rocky V’s release in 1990, Stallone was at the peak of his career, with a number of hits under his belt, including the Rocky and Rambo films.
“Unfortunately, I saw these matters as a priority over my family,” the actor said in the new documentary. “And the consequences were very drastic and devastating.”
Speaking to People in 1996, Sage admitted that Rocky V was inspired by his real-life father, Stallone, citing a scene in the film in which he fights with his father.
The deceased said: “When I was screaming and telling him, ‘You never spent time with me! You never spent time with my mother.’ That was true. I was looking at my father’s face and really saying that to him.”
Sage said that after the film everything changed between him and his father, adding: “I expressed a lot of things. We burst into tears several times. We would sacrifice anything for each other.”
After Sage’s death, Stallone told Good Morning America that accepting the loss of his son was very difficult for him. He added: “We hope that with time we will recover and overcome the ordeal. Death is a fact of life. We must regain our lives. Otherwise, we will enter a spiral.”
It is worth noting that Stallone is also the father of Sophia (27 years old), Sistine (25 years old), and Scarlett (21 years old) from his wife, Jennifer Flavin, 55 years old. He has two sons from his first wife, Sasha Chuck.
