Sylvester Stallone was "nervous" to work with Samuel L. Jackson in Tulsa King
The 79-year-old actor stars in the drama series as Dwight 'The General' Manfredi, and Stallone has now admitted he was anxious after learning the Hollywood legend, 76, had joined the cast
7 October 2025
He told People: "When I heard that was gonna happen, I went, 'Oh, this is gonna be a fist fight. This is gonna be a battle.'
"Like two boxers in a ring, and who is gonna throw the first punch? So you're getting nervous because you're dealing with serious competition."
In Tulsa King, Jackson plays hitman Russell Lee Washington Jr., who is sent to take out Manfredi.
Once the pair started sharing scenes, Stallone quickly realised working with the Pulp Fiction star would be easy.
The Rocky actor explained: "Once he walks in, he goes, 'Hey, dude brother,' and I went, 'Oh, here it goes.' But now we're good. Now we're flowing. We could do a show called Tulsa King and Buddy. We just worked that well together."
Although Tulsa King will be the first time Stallone and Jackson have appeared together on-screen, the Rambo star revealed the pair have been around each other for decades.
He shared: "We lived about a hundred yards away from each other for almost 30 years.
"Yet we didn't - you know, we're always working. So we never really saw each other, except at Planet Hollywood-type things or openings."
Reflecting on their different careers, Stallone said the two actors share a common turning point.
He explained: "I guess he got to the point that I did that he's done pretty much everything.
"But at this age in life, you want to be a little bit more grounded, steady, have your own show so you develop this thing, really flesh it out instead of working someplace for 10 days or a gig here and there."
Stallone also admitted he was still surprised at the journey his career has taken him on - having seen him create iconic characters and win Academy Awards.
He said: "That journey - I wish I had been more aware. But you're just trying to survive.
"You're not even aware of the chaos around it, because I said, 'I've got to do this.' I told myself, 'You're probably not going to make it, but I don't want you to have any damn regrets. You have to go 100 per cent, not 99.'"
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