Sly Interview: Director Thom Zimny on his epic Netflix doc

Last Updated on November 21, 2023

Thom Zimny’s epic Netflix documentary, Sly, debuted on Netflix this weekend following an excellent run at TIFF. In it, Stallone opens up about his various career highs and lows while also acknowledging some of the personal obstacles he’s had to face. This includes a tense relationship with his often violent father and the tragic death of his son, Sage Stallone.

Zimny, who previously made two great Bruce Springsteen documentaries, Letters to You and Springsteen on Broadway, along with the classic Elvis documentary, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, was gracious enough to sit with us for an epic chat about Stallone’s filmography. As the writer and narrator of Stallone Revisited (I’ve always interviewed him a few times), I like to think I’m a bit of an expert as far as Sly’s life and legacy goes. Zimny impressed me during our talk, with him genuinely an expert in Sly’s career and a genuine fan who really wants to show people how much of a legend the actor and writer truly is. In this long-ranging talk, we discuss Zimny’s time with Stallone, if anything was off the table, and Stallone’s place as an artist, with him unique in that he generates most of his scripts and is truly the auteur of his work. We even dig into the MTV-style editing of some of his eighties output, including Staying Alive, Rocky IV and more.

Make sure to check out Sly on Netflix (read our review). It’s required viewing for any true fan.