I Play Rocky

Stallone recalls how he turned big-money offers from producers who wanted the script for Rocky – on the proviso that they could cast another actor in the lead role – as he knew it was his best shot at making it in the movie business.

He wrote: "I said, pass, I can't do it.

"I've literally crawled through every gutter in New York. I've slept in every alleyway. I have paid my dues, and I know this it. I will never have this opportunity again. I don't know if you believe in destiny, but I think in some cases, it happens."