Sylvester Stallone will forever be associated with perennial underdog Rocky Balboa, a storyline that is seeing new life in the form of Ryan Coogler’s Creed. But long before Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed, there was Carl Weathers’s portrayal of Balboa’s antagonist: Apollo Creed. Surprisingly, Weathers was not the first choice for the role, as Stallone told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. The part was originally intended for boxer Ken Norton, who changed his mind several days before filming began.

That’s where Carl Weathers comes in. He flew in last-minute for an audition with Stallone and Rocky director John G. Avildsen. During the meeting, while fake sparring to see how Weathers moved, Carl roughed up Stallone and was a bit more aggressive than what the mood called for. When reading the scene afterward, Weathers said to Avildsen, “Tell you the truth, I could do a lot better if you gave me a real actor to work with,” not realizing Stallone was the star of the film. He unknowingly bolstered his image as the pompous World Heavyweight Champion by dissing Stallone’s acting ability, and the rest is history.

Watch the cast of Creed describe their perfect Philly cheesesteak.

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