What is the best Sylvester Stallone acting performance in a film he wrote or directed?

Sylvester Stallone is one of the rare Hollywood stars who shaped his own legend from scratch — literally writing himself the role of Rocky as his ticket to fame. Decades later he's still creating, writing, and directing his own vehicles. Which of the performances he crafted for himself is the most powerful?

1

Rocky Balboa (Rocky)

The scrappy South Philly boxer who gets the shot of a lifetime, in the screenplay Stallone wrote himself in Rocky (1976).

2

Rocky Balboa (Rocky II)

Rocky faces Apollo Creed in a rematch while fighting for his dignity and family in Rocky II (1979), directed by Stallone.

3

Rocky Balboa (Rocky III)

Rocky must confront arrogance and Clubber Lang's raw fury in Rocky III (1982), directed and written by Stallone.

4

Rocky Balboa (Rocky IV)

Rocky takes on the Soviet super-fighter Ivan Drago in a Cold War grudge match in Rocky IV (1985), directed by Stallone.

5

Rocky Balboa (Rocky Balboa)

An aging Rocky comes out of retirement for one last dignified fight in Rocky Balboa (2006), directed and written by Stallone.

6

Rocky as Trainer (Creed)

A weathered, cancer-stricken Rocky training Apollo Creed's son in Creed (2015), from a story Stallone co-wrote.

7

John Rambo (First Blood)

A traumatized Vietnam veteran pushed to the breaking point by a hostile small-town sheriff in First Blood (1982), from Stallone's co-written script.

8

John Rambo (Rambo II)

Rambo returns to Vietnam on a rescue mission in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), from Stallone's co-written screenplay.

9

John Rambo (Rambo 2008)

A brutal, raw return for the character set in Myanmar in Rambo (2008), directed and written by Stallone.

10

Marion 'Cobra' Cobretti

An ultra-violent LA cop waging a one-man war against a serial killer cult in Cobra (1986), from Stallone's own script.

11

Barney Ross

The gruff leader of a mercenary team in The Expendables (2010), a franchise Stallone conceived, wrote, and directed.

12

Cosmo Carboni

A street hustler in 1940s Hell's Kitchen trying to turn his brother into a wrestling star in Paradise Alley (1978), Stallone's directorial debut.

13

Dwight Manfredi

A New York mob boss exiled to Oklahoma who builds his own criminal empire in Tulsa King (2022), a series Stallone co-created.