As it happens, the awkward audition wasn’t the only issue Carl Weathers had to push through to obtain his iconic role as Apollo Creed. In a 2017 interview with The Rich Eisen Show, the actor revealed that the “Rocky” studio originally didn’t even want to test him in the role. “I get the script and my agent says to me, ‘But they don’t really want to meet you,'” he said. “Wait a minute, I read this script, I’m chomping at the bit because it’s so brilliantly written, and I see yours truly as the only guy who can play Apollo Creed, of course. But they don’t want to see me?”
It took a concerted effort from Weathers and his agents to convince the “Rocky” makers to simply give him an audition. Of course, the infamous story of the actor unknowingly insulting Sylvester Stallone is what follows, though Weathers did offer up an alternative explanation for his casting. “I tell people I think I got the job because Sly wanted to beat the hell out of me,” the actor suggested. “[He was thinking,] ‘I’ll show him who’s a real actor.”
While Weathers characterizes his journey to the role of Apollo as a battle against the odds, it seems Stallone himself was plenty confident in the actor’s ability to play the role. In an Instagram video tribute, Stallone reacted to Weathers’ death and shared his perspective of their first meeting. “I give him incredible credit and kudos because when he walked into that room and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness, but I didn’t realize how great,” he said. “I never could have accomplished what we did with ‘Rocky’ without him.”
