8. Sylvester Stallone Started Out In Porn
Sylvester Stallone found his way into Hollywood on not the smoothest path. Having been evicted from his apartment and sleeping for three weeks in a New York bus station, Stallone saw a casting notice for a softcore porn film called The Party at Kitty and Studs in 1970. He said of the film that it was a choice between that and robbing somebody, and that he took it out of pure desperation. In addition to this starring role, Stallone had played various bit parts where he was often uncredited (and probably didnt pay the bills). Of course, it was only six years later that he exploded into the mainstream with Rocky. In late 1975, after watching Muhammed Ali fight, Stallone sat down and wrote the whole script in three days. He refused to sell it unless he was to be cast as the lead (clever), and the film was nominated for ten Oscars, winning three. The people behind The Party at Kitty and Studs attempted to cash in on their stars new-found success renaming the film Italian Stallion and asking Stallone for $100,000 to prevent its release, to which Stallone nobly turned them down, and the film then largely forgotten.