phylicia rashad was the actor that played apollo creed.
phylicia rashad was the actor that played apollo creed.
who is the actor that played apollo creed?
phylicia rashad
apollo creed is a fictional character from the "rocky" films. he was played by carl weathers. he is a tough but agile boxer, who is, as the series begins, the undisputed heavyweight world champion. the character was inspired by the real-life champion muhammad ali, having what one author remarked as the same "brash, vocal, [and] theatrical" personality. sylvester stallone stated, "[jack] johnson served as the inspiration for the character of apollo creed in the rocky movies"; the character is loosely based on a combination of muhammad ali, sugar ray leonard, joe louis, and jack johnson. protagonist rocky balboa, creed's rival in "rocky" and "rocky ii", faces underdog odds (five-to-one in "rocky ii") and views creed with respect, pointedly refusing the prodding of a reporter to "trash talk" against creed by laconically remarking, "he's great."
apollo creed
in the third film, a 39-year-old apollo creed appears at the first fight between james "clubber" lang, 23, and rocky balboa, 35, as a guest moderator. this is a match at which lang defeats rocky by ko in the second round. before the match, the former champion creed steps into the ring to greet the fighters. when he steps up to lang, the latter slaps away creed's hand and mockingly insists that he "don't want no has-been in my corner". he further says, "you want to jump, creed? jump." when creed walks away, stunned at this rude display from the belligerent challenger, lang laughs at him and calls him a "chicken." this prompts creed to tell balboa to "give everybody a present and drop this chump." following the match, in which lang wins by a brutal second-round knockout, balboa's beloved manager mickey dies in the locker room. determined in part to put the disrespectful brute in his place, creed finds an apprehensive and bereaved balboa at mickey's gym. despite hesitating at first, balboa agrees to let creed train him for a rematch against lang, who laughs off the prospect of "one has-been teaching another" during a television interview. the pair subsequently travels to the "tough gym" in los angeles, california, where creed used to train, in preparation for a rematch with lang. creed encourages rocky not to ignore the naysayers that say he is too old but instead refocus himself. during this talk, he states, "now when we fought…you had that eye of the tiger". this quote is referred to throughout the movie, including the film's theme song, "eye of the tiger" by survivor. creed mentions that rocky will owe him "a big favor" once he wins, which he does not specify at first. rocky's training is geared toward making him quicker and more agile to counter the larger, stronger brawler. creed teaches rocky his (creed's) own fighting style. rocky has trouble concentrating during his training, suffering from guilt over mickey's demise and self-doubt. adrian helps rocky recognize this as a simple fear of losing again and convinces him that he can't let fear control his life and that he has to fight again, not to prove a point but to live without fear. rocky agrees and begins to put his fear aside. creed helps rocky rediscover the fire inside, which he had lost in the time leading up to the lang fight, that had won him the title. creed calls this fire the "eye of the tiger".
apollo creed