‘Tulsa King’: Sylvester Stallone Says Dwight ‘Is Who I Am’
Sylvester Stallone was a movie star long before joining Taylor Sheridan’s Tulsa King. Stallone’s name became synonymous with characters like Rocky Balboa and Rambo, but the actor never personally related to them. Now at 76 years old, Stallone is playing a character where he can pretty much be himself.
[Warning: Tulsa King spoilers ahead.]
‘Tulsa King’ is Sylvester Stallone’s first starring TV role
Sylvester Stallone’s starring role as small-time boxer Rocky Balboa in the titular film Rocky launched the actor into stardom. Since then, he has become known for a wide range of film roles, including the Rambo series. However, it wasn’t until 2022, when he was offered a role in the Taylor Sheridan series Tulsa King series, that Stallone appeared in a starring role on TV.
In Tulsa King Stallone plays mafia capo Dwight Manfredi. After serving 25 years in prison, Dwight is sent to Tulsa, OK, to establish the mob’s influence. Though Dwight is undoubtedly a criminal, he shows that he has a good heart. The series explores Dwight’s vulnerable side as he attempts to repair his broken relationship with his family
Sylvester Stallone infused his personality into his ‘Tulsa King’ character
Though Stallone is practically synonymous with characters like Rocky and Rambo, he assures fans that his personality is very different. “I used to have to tell people that Rambo is a performance,” the actor told Brooklyn Magazine. “I’m not really that monosyllabic, dark, and petulant. I really don’t talk like Rocky, either. People always assumed that’s who I am.”
Stallone described playing a character like Dwight as the “most liberating feeling. I never thought it was ever going to happen,” he told the outlet “It is who I am,” Stallone said of his Tulsa King character.
“Dwight talks how I talk. This is how I roll. And I thought, let me just see if this works. If it bombs, then I know I have a shitty personality. If it works, great because I’ve been a class clown my whole life, believe me. That’s why as a kid, I went to 13 schools in 12 years. I’m very, very hyperactive, and I thought I’d put it in this character to see if it flies.”
Stallone says Dwight doesn’t want to hurt people
While discussing his Dwight, Sylvester Stallone doubled down on his similarities with his character. “Dwight acts the way I act around my house with my wife and my daughters,” Stallone told Brooklyn Magazine. “Being yourself is actually the hardest thing to do.”
Though Dwight is a gangster, he’s not a character that takes pleasure in violence. Tulsa King strayed away from the typical mobster drama to create a series infused with plenty of comedy. A series that Stallone affectionately called “kind of odd.”
“This show is refreshing because he’s a gangster who doesn’t want to hurt anybody,” says Stallone. “He really doesn’t.” When Dwight does partake in graphic violence in episode 5, it’s only after learning that a member of the mob did something horrible to his daughter.
New episodes of Tulsa King drop Sundays on Paramount+.
