Sylvester Stallone is set to publish his memoir "The Steps" on September 29 through William Morrow. The book details the actor's formative traumas, body image struggles, and career reflections.

Stallone stated in a New York Times profile that his high school punished misbehaving students by placing them in a facility called "Park Lodge" or "the Snake Pit." Devereux Manor High School, where Stallone was sent during his teenage years, is operated by Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, a nonprofit organization that provides behavioral health services for children and adolescents.

"On the outside it looked like a big, old Tudor home from the ’20s, and then you walked inside and you entered the heart of insanity," Stallone said. He described the conditions inside the facility with graphic detail. "The smell, the filth, people running around naked, clawing, hands tied, drooling. This is what they thought would impress you never to break the rules again." He stated he was held in the facility for two weeks.

During his stay, he stated he was attacked in the facility by a patient named Jay Bird. "He was big, had no hair, always naked, rotten teeth. They called him Jay Bird because he was always naked as a jaybird. And I go into the bathroom on the way to the food mess hall, and he comes in and comes around me and he’s like ripping on my throat and he is going into my pants and grabbing my groin." He alleged that two guards intervened and beat the attacker with razor straps.

"I learned a lot more than that lesson. A much better lesson: You can’t break me. So when I got to the city [New York] and everything that came after that, I always felt I was unbreakable in that way. My heart could be broken, like every human being, but I’m talking about will." A spokesperson for Stallone's high school stated they had not read the book but respected his right to tell his story and apologized for any trauma he remembers experiencing.

He also stated his mother was not a nurturing figure and his father was unpredictable and violent. "It isn’t as though you’re a junkie, but if you’re going to work out and try to stay in shape for six months straight, and you’re eating yogurt and pudding, it’s not happening. Oh, my god, you have to. But you do it in a sensitive way — six weeks on, six weeks off. People go, ‘Oh, you don’t get that way naturally.’ No, you don’t. But that also took a terrible toll." The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 classified anabolic steroids as a Schedule III controlled substance, making their non-medical use illegal in the U.S. which provides context for his steroid use during the 1980s.

He stated that his role in the 1997 film "Cop Land" allowed him to loosen his body standards and feel somewhat liberated. "It wasn’t until I did ‘Cop Land,’ when I had to play the weakest guy in the room — partially deaf, overweight — that I felt somewhat liberated. But yeah, I’ve abused my body." He stated that treating his body in masochistic ways came at a terrible price and that he would now let others carry the banner and not do his own stunts. "If I could do it over again, I would say, ‘Let someone else carry the banner and don’t do your own stunts.’" According to reports, he has undergone nine back operations, two shoulder operations, and three neck fusions due to injuries sustained from his physically demanding career.

He wrote in his memoir that he developed the concept for "Rocky" after feeling frustrated by a lack of opportunity and viewing life as a fight. He conceived the character of Rocky Balboa as a metaphor for life's struggles, combining racing and fighting. He also wrote that he sold the rights to Paradise Alley for $100. He was born with a facial nerve injury caused by forceps during his birth, resulting in a droopy left eyelid and speech impediment, as documented in Britannica.

In recent years, he has remained active in film and television. He starred in the 2023 film "Expendables 4" and released the documentary "Sly" in the same year. He had roles in the 2024 film "Armor" and the 2025 film "Alarum." He stars as a mafia boss in the Paramount+ series "Tulsa King." In 2023, President Donald Trump named Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson as special Hollywood ambassadors.

"Well, it just happened. I was watching TV one night and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ And I went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’ Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, ‘This is not possible.’"

He expressed concern about his ambassador position, stating that Hollywood operates like feudal states and that he, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight are independent operators. Hollywood, I guess it’s like feudal states. They have their little kingdoms. You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won’t work." According to some accounts, he is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades."

Why It Matters

The publication of "The Steps" offers a detailed account of the physical and psychological costs associated with Stallone's career. His disclosures regarding steroid use and bulimia describe the extreme measures taken by actors in the 1980s to meet physical ideals, a period preceding federal regulation of anabolic steroids. The memoir also connects early institutional trauma to later resilience, providing context for his public persona and career choices.

His recent appointment as a special Hollywood ambassador contrasts with his skepticism about the industry's structure. His comments on the fragmented nature of Hollywood studios underscore the challenges of such diplomatic roles. The book serves as a comprehensive reflection on these professional and personal intersections, detailing both the sacrifices made for fame and the lasting impacts of those decisions.

Timeline

The Steps, his memoir, is being published by HarperCollins, as confirmed on the publisher's website, which also lists the release date as September 29, 2026.

What's New

Further details reveal that he stated that his role in the 1997 film "Cop Land" allowed him to loosen his body standards and feel somewhat liberated. "Hollywood, I guess it’s like feudal states. They have their little kingdoms. You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won’t work." He also stated, "Then it became an obsession. Really bad. It got to the point where I became bulimic. You heard it here first. I got down to 2.6 percent body fat when I was doing ‘Rocky III,’ and I couldn’t hold anything down. Or I didn’t want to keep it down because I became so obsessed with staying at that point." He stated that actors under pressure to maintain physical shape at that time used drugs, describing his regimen as six weeks on and six weeks off.

How Sources Differ

Sources differ on details regarding his career shows. He states that he is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades.