Stallone didn’t want to be Rambo

Besides Rocky Balboa, John Rambo is Sylvester Stallone’s most iconic role, though the actor wasn’t always going to play the character.

In fact, plenty of Hollywood’s biggest actors were in the running for the part, including Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, John Travolta, and Dustin Hoffman, though all of them dropped out after deciding the movie wasn’t strong enough.

Eventually, Sylvester was approached for the role, though he too initially turned it down, stating that the character from the book was too blood-thirsty.

However, once Orion Pictures agreed to let the actor rewrite the film and its central character into being more “on the fence” with where he stood in society and toning down the mindless violence, Stallone signed on for the fee of $3.5 million.