Stallone says he regrets doing own stunts, citing nine back surgeries and three neck fusions

Mixed · 2Sylvester Stallone told Fox News Digital that he has "millions, millions of regrets" about doing his own stunts over decades as an action star. 1 2 Mixed · 2He said that after "The Expendables" he ended up with nine back operations and three neck fusions, as well as both shoulders "ripped out" and lens procedures on his eyes, and called it "brutal". 1 2 Mixed · 2Stallone, who is 80, said he has never been "quite the same" since the surgeries and that "you have to like make peace with the pain as much as you can". 1 2

Mixed · 2His advice is to "let other people do their job": he told would-be stunt performers "don't. Let the pro do it", saying "you cannot beat gravity" and that he is an "idiot" for having done his own stunts rather than proud of having "broke[n] myself in pieces". 1 2 Left · 1Variety adds that Stallone starred in and directed "The Expendables" in 2010, and says a scene in which WWE's Steve Austin tackled him went wrong, leaving dislocated shoulders and a fractured neck that required more than seven back surgeries, plus a metal plate in his neck and spinal fusions. 2 Left · 1Variety also notes that Stallone gave similar advice to The New York Times ahead of the release of his memoir "The Steps" last month, saying his "masochistic" treatment of his body came "at a terrible price". 2

Right · 1Fox News Digital's interview also covered the fourth season of "Tulsa King", due on Paramount+ on 16 October 2026, in which Stallone said his character Dwight Manfredi faces new adversaries and tensions within his crew. 1 Right · 1Stallone also said that moving with his wife Jennifer Flavin from California to Florida in 2024 left him "invigorated" after he had grown "complacent and dull", and joked that his daughter Sophia's fiancé Michael Sheehan is "making me look bad". 1