Sylvester Stallone delivered a blunt assessment of Hollywood’s treatment of Middle America, arguing that the industry overlooked a large audience hungry for stories reflecting a different part of the country. He credited Taylor Sheridan with recognizing that demand and building success around it, as reported [1] by Fox News.
The “Tulsa King” star said Sheridan reached viewers whom Hollywood had neglected for generations. In Stallone’s view, Sheridan discovered an appetite for stories rooted beyond the industry’s familiar focus on California and New York.
“It’s very, very important because that audience was ignored for centuries, it seems, since John Wayne,” Stallone explained during an appearance on “The Rest Is Entertainment.” “And he really mined a consciousness like, ‘Oh, we forgot about that guy in the middle of America.’ They’re always writing about California and New York.”
Stallone described Middle America as having a distinct sensibility that audiences had been eager to see reflected on screen. He suggested those viewers were drawn to a world that felt simpler and more confrontational.
“But the middle America, it’s a different vibe,” he added. “And so people were starving for it. It’s like a simpler world and more, I would just say, confrontational.”
Despite Sheridan’s success, Stallone said Hollywood has not caught up when it comes to movies and what Middle American audiences might want to watch on the big screen. He contrasted the film industry’s approach with the speed and flexibility offered by streaming platforms.
“But the beauty of streaming is they’re fast, and they’re nimble, and they can really put a show on the air in a matter of weeks,” Stallone said. His own starring role in “Tulsa King” has introduced him to a new television audience.
Stallone’s criticism arrives as the entertainment industry prepares to revisit his struggle to tell his own story on his terms. His rise from struggling actor to Hollywood superstar is the subject of “I Play Rocky,” a 2026 biographical drama directed by Peter Farrelly.
The film follows Stallone’s determination to write and star in the 1976 boxing classic “Rocky.” Hollywood executives initially resisted the idea of allowing an unknown actor to play the lead, but Stallone continued pushing to take the central role.
Stallone did not participate in the production of “I Play Rocky.” He explained that his involvement could have made the project appear to be an “ego massaging vehicle.”
Anthony Ippolito stars as Stallone in the biographical drama, and his resemblance caught the actor’s attention. Stallone said seeing the performer selected to portray him changed his reaction to the project.
“And then they showed me the fellow who was going to play me, and I thought it was me,” he said, referring to Ippolito. “He gained weight. I mean, he looked the real deal.”
“Rocky” made Stallone a household name and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His five most recognizable films include “Rocky,” “First Blood,” “Rocky IV,” “Cliffhanger” and “Creed.”
His performances as boxer Rocky Balboa and Vietnam veteran John Rambo helped establish Stallone as one of Hollywood’s most enduring action stars. Decades later, “Tulsa King” gave him another prominent role, this time in television.
In the series, Stallone plays Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York Mafia capo released from prison after serving 25 years. Instead of being welcomed back into the criminal organization he protected, Dwight is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Once there, Dwight begins constructing his own criminal empire with an unlikely collection of associates. The series places Stallone at the center of the kind of Middle American setting he says Hollywood spent too long ignoring, while Sheridan continues reaching the audience Stallone believes the industry forgot.