Burt Young Was so Hurt by ‘Rocky V’ That He Didn’t Talk to Sylvester Stallone for a Long Time
Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky co-star Burt Young was as important and memorable to the franchise as Stallone himself. But the decisions Stallone made for Rocky V jeopardized his friendship with Young for quite some time.
Burt Young wouldn’t talk to Sylvester Stallone after the way his character was written in ‘Rocky V’
Rocky V has always been a sore spot for both Stallone and some of the franchise’s fans. Stallone’s iconic character ended up back where he started. Between losing all of his money, and the havoc boxing wreaked on his mind and body, Rocky moved back to Philadelphia. The film focused on how the sports star, who was now living a very modest life, was grooming the next generation of boxers.
Many didn’t like the new direction Stallone took his franchise, including Stallone. One of the reasons he decided to do the sixth film Rocky Balboa was to redeem the franchise after V. Stallone admitted Rocky V didn’t land the way he intended, taking the blame for the film’s failures.
It turned out Burt Young, who played Paulie in the feature, was especially upset with the film for betraying his character. Young was against Paulie’s part in Rocky’s financial troubles and resented how Stallone dealt with the character’s mental state.
“So, for a short while we didn’t talk,” Young once said according to Total Rocky. “But now he has this reality fight show [Mark Burnett’s The Contender], so they asked me if I would show up, you know? And I was pleased to hug him and forget the time lost.”
Burt Young felt he should’ve won an Oscar for the original ‘Rocky’
Rocky racked up a lot of Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Young. But he didn’t win, and was very open about feeling that was a mistake. But he thought he might’ve had the opportunity to make up for his loss after reprising his role in Rocky Balboa.
“You know I should’ve won. I should’ve won. Who knows. I might get nominated on this one. That would be funny. Nominated for the same movie twice,” he once told CY Interview (via Burt Young).
During the interview, the late actor shared how he ended up in Rocky in the first place. He revealed that Stallone approached him personally for the movie.
“Well, I was the only actor that didn’t have to audition,” Burt Young said about the Sylvester Stallone picture. They sent me the script. It was very low budget. I read it. I didn’t know who Stallone was,” Young said. “I read it and thought it was probably the most brilliant script I ever read. I write myself also in this one. I went to California and was dragging my feet trying to get a couple of dollars from them which they didn’t have. Stallone comes to me and says, ‘Mr. Young. I am Sly Stallone. I wrote Rocky.’ I said, ‘Well kid congratulations, it was wonderful. You did great.’ ‘You gotta do the movie.’ I am gonna do it. Let me twist their arm and try to get some dollars. He smiled like a pumpkin and that was the beginning.”
Sylvester Stallone paid tribute to Burt Young after his death
Burt Young died on Oct. 8. He was 83 years old at the time, although no cause of death has yet been disclosed. Stallone recently took to Instagram to offer his condolences to his longtime friend.
“To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG,” Stallone wrote on Instagram. “You were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP.”
