CARL WEATHERS 1948-2024 - Forever a Champ

THE FOOTBALL PLAYER TURNED HOLLYWOOD HEAVYWEIGHT FOUND FAME WITH ROCKY AND ROLES OUTSIDE THE BOXING RING

- JULIE JORDAN

Carl Weathers learned early on to roll with the punches. The former pro linebacker was auditioning for what would become his big break in Hollywood, as Apollo Creed, the nemesis of Sylvester Stallone's prizefighter in 1976's Rocky. Told he'd be reading with the film's screenwriter, Weathers didn't know Stallone was both writer and star.

"At the end of it, I didn't feel like the scene had sailed, and they were quiet, and there was this moment of awkwardness-soIjustblurtedout, I could do a lot better if you got me a real actor to work with,’” Weathers recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. Weathers was embarrassed, but Stallone apparently decided th  insult was exactly what the character would do. “Sometimes,” added Weathers, “the mistakes are the ones that get you the gig.”