Sylvester Stallone wanted to play young Rambo. "Everyone thought I was crazy."

Action star Sylvester Stallone, 79, revealed he considered using artificial intelligence to reprise his role as John Rambo. The actor dreamed of starring in a prequel to the legendary franchise, with his character appearing younger than he did in the 1982 film "Rambo: First Blood."

Hollywood is currently preparing for a prequel to the iconic John Rambo series. Noah Centineo will play the young, pre-war commando. Interestingly, Sylvester Stallone, the actor who made Rambo an action icon, is not involved with the project . As it turns out, Stallone himself had previously planned to return to the role, utilizing artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.

As Stallone recalls on the "Bingeworthy" podcast, he proposed to the studio an idea using artificial intelligence that would rejuvenate him to his teenage years.

"Everyone thought I was crazy. The AI ​​is advanced enough to find footage of me as a young boy and show me Rambo in Saigon. We would essentially use the same persona, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch."

Earlier, in an interview with ScreenRant, the actor talked about his idea for the plot of such a film.

"I wanted to recreate Rambo's origin story. I wanted him to be a nice guy at school, prom king, speaking at the graduation ceremony, and so on. Then he's sent to Vietnam, where he thinks it'll be over quickly. And then he's captured, tortured, his friends die one by one, everything falls apart during his time in Saigon, and he becomes the Rambo we know. But before that, he was a bon vivant. But we developed this project too long and missed the opportunity," he explained.

Stallone expects Noah Centineo might have a hard time taking on the role of Rambo, mainly because the character is too closely associated with Stallone. He went through a similar experience when he played a character previously played by Michael Caine in the "Get Carter" remake . Stallone faced prejudice from fans of the original.

Interestingly, a film , "I Play Rocky," directed by Peter Farrelly, is also slated for release soon. It will tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Oscar-winning hit "Rocky." Anthony Ippolito will star as the young Stallone. Sylvester Stallone will also be absent from the cast.

"I was surprised they didn't even ask me. It's strange, especially since this film was made thanks to my determination," the actor said.

Let us recall: Stallone not only wrote the script for "Rocky", but also won the main role for himself, even though he was a completely unknown actor at the time.

Sylvester Stallone's memoir , "The Steps," will be released on May 5, 2026. According to the publisher's description, the book details the actor's formative years and his rise to fame, which culminated in the Oscar-winning film "Rocky."