Sylvester Stallone has revealed he was almost ready to be done with acting before he was offered a role on new Paramount+ drama Tulsa King.
In the ten-part series the legendary actor, 76, stars as Dwight Mandredi, a New York gangster who is released from prison after serving a 25-year sentence to find that things in the world outside are not how he left them.
Stallone's Tulsa King role marks two firsts for the star -- the first time he's played a gangster and the first time he has fronted a television series.
Speaking to Newsweek ahead of the show's premiere, Stallone revealed that he was feeling ready to effectively retire and spend his days with his wife, Jennifer Flavin, and their three daughters: Sistine, Sophia and Scarlet.
Things all changed for the Rocky legend, however, when the role of Manfredi was presented to him by the show's creator, Taylor Sheridan, who also created Yellowstone.
"I was really very content with going, 'Sayonara, I'll see you around, it's been a nice life, and just go and I'll go hang out with the family and all," Stallone told Newsweek, adding: "And then this comes along and it's like the Al Pacino line, they bring me back in -- just when I was thought I was out."
The reference to Pacino's famous line is especially fitting for Stallone's Tulsa King role as it was said by his character Michael Corleone, also a gangster, in the film The Godfather: Part III.
Revealing why he couldn't turn down Tulsa King, Stallone added: "They really presented something that was a challenge, something I've always wanted to do. I couldn't believe it, I'd spent my entire career never playing one gangster!"
Tulsa King has been described by its writer, The Sopranos' Terence Winter, as a "dark comedy" and there are certainly lots of different elements at play in the episodes as Manfredi attempts to adjust to the world around him after 25 years inside.
The character is, understandably, expecting a warm welcome from his mob family upon his release from prison but he is instead exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he realizes that the people for whom he gave up so many years of his life may not have his best interests at heart.
Acting alongside Stallone are Andrea Savage, Dana Delany, Martin Starr, Max Casella and Jay Will. Garrett Hedlund, Vincent Piazza and A.C. Peterson also feature.
Tulsa King premieres on Paramount + on November 13. The first two episodes will be released simultaneously and the remaining eight will be released weekly.
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Laura Donaldson is a Newsweek Film and TV Reporter (SEO), based in Edinburgh, U.K. Her focus is on reality TV. ... Read more
