Sylvester Stallone Details Past Bulimia Struggles, Steroid Use

“I don’t care what they say,” Stallone explained. “It isn’t as though you’re a junkie, but if you’re going to work out and try to stay in shape for six months straight, and you’re eating yogurt and pudding, it’s not happening.”

But when asked if his comments were confirmation that he did, in fact, use steroids, the Expendables actor replied, “Oh, my god, you have to. But you do it in a sensitive way—six weeks on, six weeks off. People go, ‘Oh, you don’t get that way naturally.’ No, you don’t.”

Despite taking precautions, Stallone admitted that using steroids still “took a terrible toll” on his body, sharing that it wasn’t until years later that he felt any sort of relief from the pressures he faced to look a certain way. 

“It wasn’t until I did Cop Land, when I had to play the weakest guy in the room—partially deaf, overweight—that I felt somewhat liberated,” Stallone said of the 1997 crime drama. “Then things went sideways and I just fell out of grace with Hollywood.”

Owning up to the fact that he’s “abused my body,” the 80-year-old noted that he’s “had nine back operations, two shoulder operations, three neck fusions” to repair the damage.

“Everything is held together with baling wire,” he shared, “but I still want to stay in good shape.”

However, that doesn’t mean Stallone wouldn’t approach his fitness goals differently if given the opportunity to go back in time, describing his past behavior as “very masochistic.”

“It’s come at a terrible price,” he admitted. “If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts.’ I don’t know what it was about hurting myself all the time.”

Keep reading to see what more stars have said about their mental health journeys…