I Play Rocky Lands Knockout Casting: Kiki Seto as Talia Shire, Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith
Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky locks in two Rocky icons, casting Kiki Seto as Talia Shire and Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith in the making-of drama.
Well, this is fun. The upcoming biopic 'I Play Rocky' keeps dropping set shots that look like someone time-traveled to grab 1970s Sly off a Philly street corner. And now the cast playing the Rocky family has filled out in a big way.
Two key additions just locked
Kiki Seto is set to play Talia Shire, who of course became iconic as Adrian Balboa. Seto is an L.A. native who jumped back into acting a couple years ago and recently popped up in Apple TV's 'The Studio' with Seth Rogen. Also joining: Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith, the actor behind Rocky's gravel-voiced trainer, Mickey Goldmill. Morgan's credits include 'Hacksaw Ridge' and Ben Affleck's recent sequel 'The Accountant 2'.
The roster so far
- Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone
- Stephan James as Carl Weathers
- Kiki Seto as Talia Shire
- Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith
- AnnaSophia Robb as Sasha Czack (Stallone's first wife)
- Matt Dillon as Frank Stallone Sr.
- PJ Byrne as producer Irwin Winkler
- Jay Duplass as 'Rocky' director John Avildsen
Who is steering the thing
Peter Farrelly is directing (yep, the 'Green Book' one), working from a script by Peter Gamble ('Trenches'). Producer Christian Baha has been pushing this project for years and teamed with Toby Emmerich and Farrelly to finally get it moving.
Stallone's temperature check
Important to note: Stallone hasn't blessed the movie, but he hasn't taken a swing at it either. Word is he's reserving judgment until he sees the finished cut. A diplomatic stance, and honestly, fair.
Lead actor with Sly-level hustle
Anthony Ippolito already proved he can channel 70s cinema giants when he played Al Pacino in 'The Offer' on Paramount+. In a very on-brand move for a movie about betting on yourself, he reportedly made an unsolicited audition tape and sent it straight to the 'I Play Rocky' producers. Bold. Kinda perfect.
What the movie is actually about
The film tells the true story of an unknown actor who refuses to just write 'Rocky' and insists on becoming Rocky Balboa himself, gambling everything to star in his own script despite wall after wall of no.
So yeah, it's the ultimate underdog story about the ultimate underdog movie. If that feels meta, that's the point.
Producer's pitch, translated
Last year, producer Christian Baha said Gamble's script nails why Stallone's rise still hits: a seemingly ordinary guy with a not-so-ordinary gift who simply won't be told no. He also admitted getting this film made took the same kind of grit, and credited the eventual team-up with Toby Emmerich and Peter Farrelly for helping lock the vision.
A quick nerdy behind-the-scenes note
Between the set photos and the casting of people like Jay Duplass as John Avildsen and PJ Byrne as Irwin Winkler, this isn't just a cosplay of Rocky's world; it's a snapshot of how the original movie actually got made. If they stick the landing, it could be as satisfying for filmmaking diehards as it is for Rocky fans.