*The Rocky origin story usually belongs to Sylvester Stallone: the struggling actor who wrote himself a shot at stardom and refused to surrender the lead. But Stephan James wants audiences to spend a little more time with the Black actor standing across the ring.
In “I Play Rocky,” James portrays Carl Weathers, whose Apollo Creed became essential to the franchise. Speaking exclusively with EUR, James explained why getting Weathers right meant looking beyond his athletic build and professional football résumé.
“But I truly believe he was an artist first,” James said.
That perspective became a key to his performance. James said he was especially struck by learning that Weathers studied acting and theater while attending school on a football scholarship. For him, that detail challenged the easy assumption that acting was simply the next available career after sports.
“This is something he actually took very, very seriously, and was his passion,” he told EUR.
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Directed by Peter Farrelly, I Play Rocky follows a young Stallone, played by Anthony Ippolito, fighting to get Rocky made with himself in the starring role. The Amazon MGM Studios film revisits the uncertainty behind a movie whose success now feels inevitable.
For James, the story also opened a conversation about Weathers finding his place as a Black leading man in 1970s Hollywood. Discussing performances spanning Rocky, Predator and Action Jackson, he emphasized Weathers’ intellect, humor and charisma. The physique was visible. The range deserved equal attention.
James faced a particular acting challenge: playing Weathers as a working actor, then showing that actor become Apollo Creed. He found a connection in the ambition and pressure that come with trying to establish a career and sustain it. The boxing required its own education. James said he had roughly two months to learn to look proficient, then had to work backward to portray someone still learning. Knowing Weathers had also needed to learn boxing gave him permission to embrace the awkward beginning.
He and Ippolito trained together at Gleason’s Boxing Gym in Brooklyn. Working through the choreography helped them develop trust, while the setting made their characters feel unusually close. People in the gym greeted them as Apollo, Rocky or Sly.
“We’re already in it. We’re already locked in,” James recalled.
Having previously portrayed Jesse Owens and John Lewis, James sees Weathers as another figure whose impact warrants that level of care.
“I’ve always been drawn to characters who seem sort of larger than life,” he said.
His interview offers a reason to revisit the familiar Rocky story: another artist was fighting for his future in that ring, too.
I Play Rocky is now playing in select U.S. theaters following its November 6, 2026 opening, and expands nationwide November 20 through Amazon MGM Studios.
Jill Munroe is a Los Angeles-bred entertainment journalist, producer, and host. Follow her socials @StilettoJill or visit JillMunroe.com. Catch her live M-Thu on KBLA Talk 1580 from 6PM to 7PM.
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