If I'd succeeded right away at acting I wouldn't have sought out writing.

I started out as an actor, but I forced myself to be a writer, even though I wasn't very good at it and had never written. I don't think I ever passed an English course in my life. My first eight to 10 scripts were pretty horrendous, but I stayed at it, stayed at it, and stayed at it, until I eventually found a voice and a subject like Rocky that people were interested in.

Boxing is the only sport where you have the audience coming right up to you and saying, "You Stink." And you got to deal with that. It's like being in front of the lions.

I understand that a lot of other actors don't have a choice. They have to eat so they need to work and they'll do films that they're not so proud of. But I've been fortunate enough to be given a second wind, so I try to pick projects I know will provide the audience the kind of escapism they want from me.

I have a lack of fear, whereas in the past the fear of failure was a powerful motivator. Anyway, I have great expectations for the future, but I just don't know if I'm the monarch of all I survey.

People asked if I could have played the Terminator. Are you kidding? Not a chance, I never could have played the Terminator.

I believe there's an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts.