Latest / Going The Distance: The Rocky Series Podcast / Felice Cantatore Interview
Transcript
- 0:00hey listeners ryan here co-host to going the distance the rocky series podcast can't believe 00:12 --> 00:18 it this is episode 16 keep going and we keep going you keep listening so we're just going 00:18 --> 00:23 to keep on going until you stop listening in fact maybe we'll keep going even if you do stop listening 00:23 --> 00:49 today we have a great interview another great interview for those wondering when are we going 00:49 --> 00:53 to get back to reviewing the movies and talking about the movies because we finished up we're 00:53 --> 01:00 and we've gone into a slew of interviews some of you love the interviews some of you love both 01:00 --> 01:05 interviews and the movie talk and some of you just like the movie talk but we love all of you 01:05 --> 01:11 regardless but this is our last interview for a while and we have with us a very special guest 01:11 --> 01:22 felice canatore the author of rocky spirit the rocky balboa connection to success burt young who played 01:22 --> 01:29 paulie in the movies of course refer to this book as a masterpiece and we talked to felice about how 01:29 --> 01:35 that came to be as well so felice we just want to say thank you so much for giving me ryan a chance to 01:35 --> 01:40 talk to you and we have a great interview a little disclaimer though uh this is what happens when you're 01:40 --> 01:48 a ham and agar like myself and my brother ruben he's a ham and agar as well we are not rich because 01:48 --> 01:57 we're not rich we don't have thousands and thousands of dollars of recording equipment and uh you know 01:57 --> 02:02 some of these uh big time podcasters they've got the fancy equipment with the fancy microphones the fence 02:02 --> 02:10 fancy sound boards quite frankly we're we're just totally grateful that anyone even talks to us uh people 02:10 --> 02:15 that have had success in their life talking to a couple of guys on their podcast so that being said for 02:15 --> 02:23 some reason on the cell phone conversation my voice and thankfully it's just my voice a lot of my 02:23 --> 02:28 questions is garbly gook i'm just going to tell you right now but the important thing is the interview is 02:28 --> 02:37 not about me and i'm not here to plug me or talk about me so the good news is felice came through loud 02:37 --> 02:42 and clear and he basically reiterated a lot of the questions that i asked anyways so the audience you're not 02:42 --> 02:47 going to be lost as to what the heck we're talking about i apologize that my voice went old gobbledygook 02:47 --> 02:54 felice however did not so the important person is heard loud and clear so enjoy the interview i apologize 02:54 --> 02:58 for my voice quality on my phone i don't know what happened but for some reason the cell reception or 02:58 --> 03:04 something on my end i don't know it's weird it just recorded weird what can i tell you technology 03:04 --> 03:08 when we get more money what we're going to do is we're going to fly people out to our house 03:08 --> 03:15 and interview them here all right guys thank you so much for taking a listen and yes we're gonna next 03:15 --> 03:22 week we're gonna tackle rocky too and don't forget we're available on itunes or android basically any 03:22 --> 03:29 podcast app that you have you can find us at going the distance the rocky series and if you want please 03:29 --> 03:35 review us give us a review on especially on itunes it helps us out helps us get more listeners and maybe 03:35 --> 03:40 just maybe if we get some more listeners we can afford that really good equipment all right guys 03:40 --> 03:42 rocky fans enjoy this awesome interview 03:42 --> 03:50 hi this police hey police it's liner balken calling how you doing hi how are you guys man 03:50 --> 03:57 good thank you so much for uh allowing me to call and talk to you oh very cool good timing too 03:57 --> 04:03 why is that no you were i'm saying you're right on time well it's funny i'm actually a few minutes 04:03 --> 04:07 late i um brought my phone up to my parents suite because they have a nice quiet suite away from my 04:07 --> 04:13 kids so i can talk to you quietly without the kids yelling at us and uh they're looking at my email on my 04:13 --> 04:18 phone and i couldn't find the phone number i was like where is it the gmail app on the phone sometimes 04:18 --> 04:24 is kind of funky compared to the laptop i couldn't find your phone i decided to run back down to my my house 04:24 --> 04:29 and try to sneak in without waking up the babies and got the phone number and uh so i'm a little bit 04:29 --> 04:36 out of breath because i'd like to be timely the military in me yeah i hear you man perfect how do you say 04:36 --> 04:43 your last name kentus rory and i i assume that's not scottish nope that's italian just like the italian 04:43 --> 04:55 it says you're you're award winning yes what award is that okay well i won a i won a journalism award i used to run a newspaper called a long island press 04:55 --> 05:03 okay and the long island press was a newspaper in long island new york and uh we were the best newspaper in the state of new york 05:03 --> 05:15 two or three years and i won a journalism award for an article that i did on rocky awesome what's the name of the article people can google it yeah the article is actually on my website rockyspirit.org 05:15 --> 05:29 awesome all right so well before we talk about your book rocky spirit uh you're the author of rocky spirit the rock the bell both fiction success let's talk a little bit about where you were born and all that things and a little bit of the background 05:29 --> 05:48 oh sure i grew up in in flushing queens uh in new york spent uh many years there and that's where you know i started my fascination with the rocky movies i was 11 years old when i first saw uh the original rocky in the movie theaters and that's the only way that you should see the original rocky 05:48 --> 05:58 it was the greatest movie experience of my life now if you don't mind my asking uh how old are you now 51 okay so you saw it literally when it came out in the theaters 05:58 --> 06:10 oh absolutely um i saw it for the first time i think it was in january of 1977 that's awesome i envy you sir it came out in november november 23rd of 76 06:10 --> 06:27 and then by the time it filtered down to me you know everybody talking about the greatest oh you have to see this movie this movie is unbelievable by the time i got wind of it it was you know early january and i ran to see it the second these folks over at a candy store that i used to go to 06:27 --> 06:52 they were the owners of this candy store luncheonette they told me they gave me this movie review that lasted a lifetime why did this movie resonate with you so much at the time why do you think it hit you the way it did you know it's a great question i think it did because i was actually the perfect age you know the age to have an impression made upon me i was you know 11 years old and you just kind of at that age you're absorbing everything you're taking it all in 06:52 --> 07:05 and it was a great time 1976 77 was an exciting time for the country you know we were coming off the uh the bicentennial and there was so many things happening and then you know to see 07:05 --> 07:22 this film about a somebody person who is fighting their entire life to be a somebody go the distance and succeed in doing what he wanted to do it motivated me from the very second i sat in the theater you know from the very second that somebody told me 07:22 --> 07:51 to go see that film i was motivated and it motivated me my entire life every step of the way every film that's come out from you know from the music to the training montages to you know everything about it throughout my lifetime since i was a child i have used the examples that i've learned from the rocky films in my life to always go the distance and to never give up and that you know that led me to to one of my goals in life and one of my 07:51 --> 08:21 goals was to be in a rocky movie i did everything i could to get into a rocky movie back in uh in 2005 when they filmed the rocky balboa i do want to get to that because that was one of my questions first off i didn't know that was one of your goals that's pretty that's pretty awesome and yeah oh yeah yes i guess you could take rocky five that you had that opportunity to be in rocky balboa to me to mean oh absolutely i by the way i loved rocky five good man right i thought rocky five was tremendous 08:21 --> 08:24 It's because of the message that Rocky V delivers. 08:24 --> 08:27 And it delivers the message of the power of family. 08:28 --> 08:30 And you should always never give up on your family. 08:31 --> 08:34 And I think it's a special message. 08:34 --> 08:40 And I think it got lost in the dollars and cents of movie making. 08:41 --> 08:42 The message got lost. 08:42 --> 08:46 And if people just step back and understand what it's all about 08:46 --> 08:47 and understand the performances, 08:47 --> 08:50 especially that young Sage DeLone did in that film, 08:51 --> 08:53 that was a tremendous performance by that young man. 08:53 --> 08:55 With all the pressure that was on him, 08:55 --> 08:57 acting with his dad and everything, 08:58 --> 09:01 he really, really pulled off a great performance. 09:01 --> 09:02 Oh, I agree. 09:02 --> 09:04 And I like the positive review. 09:04 --> 09:04 I appreciate that. 09:05 --> 09:08 I've always had a soft spot for Rocky V myself. 09:08 --> 09:10 And we kind of give it a hard time on our podcast, 09:10 --> 09:11 but in a loving way. 09:12 --> 09:13 Tell me what you think about this, please. 09:13 --> 09:16 If Rocky V had ended with a fight in the ring, 09:17 --> 09:18 vice a fight in the street. 09:19 --> 09:22 You know, it needed a little something different, you know, 09:22 --> 09:24 because it was always the same, you know, 09:24 --> 09:26 the same conclusion was the fight in the ring. 09:26 --> 09:28 So I kind of enjoyed the fight in the street. 09:28 --> 09:31 I thought it was pretty cool to, you know, 09:31 --> 09:34 to watch Rocky do some leg takedowns, 09:34 --> 09:38 which I thought was neat. 09:38 --> 09:42 But I think, yeah, I think the public probably wanted that fight in the ring. 09:42 --> 09:46 You know, they were used to, you know, to getting that awesome finish. 09:46 --> 09:48 It's probably what they were chiming for. 09:48 --> 09:50 But, you know, as far as resonating with me, 09:51 --> 09:54 a last-long Rocky fan, I was just happy to see Rocky. 09:54 --> 09:55 Right, of course. 09:56 --> 09:59 Well, yeah, my first time seeing Rocky, I'm 40 years old, 09:59 --> 10:02 and I never saw the first two Rockies in the theaters 10:02 --> 10:04 just due to the fact that I was incapable of doing as much. 10:04 --> 10:07 So I saw Rocky III was the first one I saw in the theaters. 10:07 --> 10:08 Oh, wow. 10:09 --> 10:12 Now, let me tell you about the experience of being in the movie theater. 10:13 --> 10:17 And actually, I just saw the original Rocky about three weeks ago 10:17 --> 10:18 with Burt Young. 10:19 --> 10:22 We did a whole something here in Long Island with Burt Young, 10:22 --> 10:26 and he was in attendance, and it was great to see it again. 10:26 --> 10:28 And, you know, the movie's been around for 40 years, 10:28 --> 10:31 and people in the theater that night were still cheering 10:31 --> 10:34 and still laughing and still enjoying themselves. 10:34 --> 10:37 And, you know, I just want to take you back to my experience, 10:37 --> 10:40 you know, back in 1977. 10:40 --> 10:44 You walk in the theater, and the theater was packed, you know, 10:44 --> 10:45 and we were in a theater. 10:45 --> 10:47 It was called the UA Quartet. 10:47 --> 10:50 And back then, I mean, the UA Quartet, four theaters in one, 10:51 --> 10:51 that was huge. 10:52 --> 10:54 You know, not like these mega theaters, that were the 20 theaters, you know. 10:55 --> 11:00 But back then, to have four theaters, and to have Rocky playing on two of the four screens, 11:00 --> 11:03 you know, taking up half the theater, was pretty cool. 11:03 --> 11:08 And not only that, but it was packed, and you had to wait online to get your ticket. 11:08 --> 11:11 And I'm talking now, you know, two months into the engagement already, 11:11 --> 11:12 and you're still waiting online. 11:13 --> 11:16 And then once you get in, you have to run to get your seats. 11:16 --> 11:21 And I ran, and, you know, myself, my brother, and his girl, we went in there, we ran, 11:21 --> 11:26 we got our seats on the, I remember it like it was yesterday, on the left hand of the theater. 11:26 --> 11:28 And the theater now is a supermarket. 11:29 --> 11:32 So I go back, sometimes I go back to the old neighborhood, 11:32 --> 11:35 and I stand in the supermarket and try to figure out where exactly I was sitting. 11:37 --> 11:44 So anyway, you go in the theater, and the whole, I mean, as soon as the movie started, 11:44 --> 11:49 and the Rocky letters go across the screen, the anticipation of everybody that was in the theater 11:49 --> 11:52 was so exciting, and it built up. 11:52 --> 11:56 Then, of course, you get the montage and the training scene, and, you know, everybody wanted, 11:56 --> 11:59 I saw, you know, I looked down the row, and I saw my brother, and, you know, 11:59 --> 12:04 he was punching in the air, and, you know, he was ready to go and start training and everything, 12:04 --> 12:06 and I saw his excitement on his face. 12:06 --> 12:12 And then you get to the fight scene, and it was like something I never experienced before. 12:12 --> 12:18 I mean, there was a person behind me on the back of my chair shaking my chair during the fight scene. 12:18 --> 12:20 People were standing up. 12:20 --> 12:23 They were cheering, punch for punch, blow for blow. 12:23 --> 12:28 It was a movie, but you were really at like a live sporting event. 12:28 --> 12:30 And that's the feel of it all. 12:30 --> 12:33 And then at the very end, you know, Rocky wins the place. 12:34 --> 12:35 The whole theater erupts. 12:35 --> 12:42 So you can't hear the announcement by the rank announcer of, you know, of who won. 12:42 --> 12:44 You kind of got to just kind of figure it out, you know. 12:45 --> 12:50 And when you see Apollo Creed bouncing around with his hands up, you know Rocky lost, 12:50 --> 12:53 but it really didn't matter at that point. 12:53 --> 12:56 Because A, you knew he went to distance and succeeded in his goal. 12:57 --> 13:01 And B, you just understood you were treated to a movie of a lifetime. 13:01 --> 13:06 And for me, it actually turned out to be a movie of a lifetime as it stuck with me for so long. 13:06 --> 13:10 And I thought they could never, ever, ever duplicate that. 13:10 --> 13:16 And they wound up pulling it off in Rocky 2 because it was the same exact thing in Rocky 2. 13:16 --> 13:20 The same excitement, the same applause from the audience. 13:20 --> 13:23 It was, again, like seeing another live event. 13:23 --> 13:26 And that was a super, super thrill for me. 13:26 --> 13:26 That's awesome. 13:27 --> 13:28 What a great experience. 13:28 --> 13:29 Thank you for sharing that. 13:30 --> 13:31 We kind of don't have it anymore. 13:31 --> 13:33 The theater is the way we used to do. 13:34 --> 13:36 No, it's totally changing. 13:36 --> 13:37 And here's another thing. 13:37 --> 13:41 Back then, your only chance to see a movie was in the movie theater. 13:41 --> 13:41 Yeah. 13:42 --> 13:48 If you wanted to see it again, you were back online and you were paying again to see the movie. 13:48 --> 13:50 You know, there was no VCRs. 13:50 --> 13:51 There was no iTunes. 13:52 --> 13:56 There was no DVDs. 13:56 --> 13:59 And you don't have any tickets the original Rocky sold. 13:59 --> 14:00 You know what? 14:00 --> 14:00 I don't have that answer. 14:00 --> 14:01 You stumped me on that one. 14:02 --> 14:02 Give it to me. 14:03 --> 14:03 55 million. 14:05 --> 14:05 55? 14:05 --> 14:07 That's an awesome number. 14:08 --> 14:08 It really is. 14:09 --> 14:11 And, you know, no social media. 14:11 --> 14:18 It was all word of mouth of how good that film was and how it spread around the country. 14:18 --> 14:24 They did a brilliant job in marketing the film and a brilliant job all the way around it. 14:24 --> 14:28 And I mention it, too, in the book Rocky Spirit, The Rocky Balboa of Indiction to Success. 14:29 --> 14:35 It was like something magical was happening because everything that they did worked. 14:35 --> 14:41 In a conversation that I had with Burt Young over lunch, he talked about the very same thing. 14:41 --> 14:42 He talked about that magic. 14:42 --> 14:45 And he talked about, you know, everything just coming together. 14:46 --> 14:48 He said it was like the gods brought it together. 14:49 --> 14:49 Oh, I agree. 14:50 --> 14:50 I agree. 14:51 --> 14:52 Fascinated, Ryan. 14:52 --> 14:52 I'm fascinated. 14:53 --> 14:56 Every time I go to the Rocky Steps, they're the Rocky Steps. 14:56 --> 14:58 You know, I know they're the Museum of Art. 14:59 --> 15:01 They're officially the Rocky Steps. 15:01 --> 15:06 Every time I go there, no matter what time I've been there in life, I've been there at unique times. 15:06 --> 15:08 Like, I've been there at 2 o'clock in the morning sometimes. 15:08 --> 15:10 I've been there at 4 o'clock in the morning. 15:10 --> 15:11 I've been there at 6 a.m. 15:11 --> 15:13 I've been there so many different times. 15:13 --> 15:18 There is always somebody running up and down those steps every time I was there. 15:18 --> 15:28 And to see how many different people from different countries that run up those steps every single day, every single minute is amazing. 15:28 --> 15:34 And that just tells you the power of these films and their reach, what they've done around the world. 15:34 --> 15:39 I would assume that Ufers DeLong probably had no idea. 15:40 --> 15:42 You know, he had large dreams. 15:43 --> 15:46 And I think that's what really propelled it. 15:46 --> 15:52 It was his energy and his dream to do something big and to do something that was meaningful. 15:53 --> 15:56 He probably didn't realize how big it was going to be. 15:56 --> 16:01 He definitely had the energy to push it to where it became and what it is today. 16:01 --> 16:03 And you have to give him credit. 16:03 --> 16:11 I mean, what he's done with the franchise and the longevity of the franchise, nobody's done anything like that. 16:11 --> 16:18 There's been no actor, no performer who has done anything of a kind, especially in my lifetime at least. 16:18 --> 16:22 I've always said, what other actor or performer, since the movie was created, 16:23 --> 16:30 he's written, like created a character that they've starred in and has been nominated twice for the same character. 16:31 --> 16:31 Right? 16:33 --> 16:35 That doesn't happen often. 16:36 --> 16:38 And look at how many years apart. 16:38 --> 16:39 Yeah. 16:39 --> 16:47 You know, I thought, you know, when I was sitting, when I was sitting there, when we were filming Rocky Balboa, you know, I was sitting in the audience and I had front row seats. 16:48 --> 16:54 I was considered a high roller extra sitting in the front row of the fight scene. 16:54 --> 16:54 Oh, that's awesome. 16:55 --> 16:58 I couldn't even imagine that it was, at the time, 30 years. 16:59 --> 17:02 You know, I was like, wow, 30 years has gone since, you know, the original Rocky. 17:02 --> 17:04 And here I am sitting in the front row. 17:04 --> 17:06 I got a really cool story. 17:06 --> 17:09 I wanted to, you know, I wanted to meet Sly. 17:09 --> 17:12 I was waiting for my chance and I'm sitting in the front row. 17:12 --> 17:23 And all of a sudden, he comes over towards my seat and kneels down in front of me and starts setting up a scene that was in the seats with the fight promoter. 17:23 --> 17:26 And the fight promoter was sitting, you know, like a row next to me. 17:26 --> 17:29 And so he's kneeling in front of me and he's setting up the picture. 17:30 --> 17:32 And I'm sitting there, I'm like, wow. 17:33 --> 17:35 To me, he's Rocky Balboa to me. 17:35 --> 17:40 And I'm looking down and I'm like, Rocky Balboa is kneeling down in front of me. 17:40 --> 17:41 That's amazing. 17:44 --> 17:45 That's the Rocky spirit in a nutshell. 17:46 --> 17:47 That's amazing, brother. 17:47 --> 17:50 I mean, I have the same love that you're with Rocky. 17:51 --> 17:53 I just admire what you've done and what you've seen. 17:54 --> 17:55 And we'll go back to your book. 17:56 --> 18:02 You mentioned that when I haven't read your book, you know, there's probably people in our audience that hasn't read that. 18:02 --> 18:03 We'll talk about your book. 18:04 --> 18:10 What leads to decide that Rocky's going to be in my life, whatever this is, and then I'm going to write it down. 18:11 --> 18:13 How do you go from that to writing a book? 18:13 --> 18:16 Well, what happened was, you know, I had this dream. 18:16 --> 18:17 I wanted to be in a Rocky movie. 18:17 --> 18:18 And that was the goal. 18:18 --> 18:22 And I did everything I possibly could to be in the Rocky movie. 18:23 --> 18:26 And then once I was in the movie, I wanted to film the movie. 18:26 --> 18:29 And that was in December of 2005. 18:30 --> 18:33 The movie wasn't going to come out until December of 2006. 18:34 --> 18:34 Right. 18:34 --> 18:38 So, you know, after having this experience, I was on set for three days. 18:38 --> 18:40 I did 14 hours a day for three days. 18:41 --> 18:45 Three checks, by the way, which two I cashed and one I never cashed. 18:46 --> 18:50 It's still sealed in an envelope because I figured, you know what? 18:51 --> 18:53 I couldn't get a souvenir better than that. 18:56 --> 18:57 So I kept that around. 18:58 --> 19:02 So anyway, after filming the movie, I said to myself, you know, what's next? 19:03 --> 19:03 What am I going to do? 19:03 --> 19:07 And I've been a goal-oriented person my whole life and my career. 19:07 --> 19:10 You know, I do sales and marketing. 19:11 --> 19:12 And that's a sport in itself. 19:13 --> 19:15 So I've been always goal-oriented. 19:15 --> 19:22 So my next goal was, okay, I think I'm in the film because you don't really, as an extra, you don't really know you're in the film until you see, you know, the final cut. 19:23 --> 19:27 But I knew that I put my head in the way quite a few times. 19:27 --> 19:28 So I knew that I was going to get there. 19:29 --> 19:30 And then I said, all right, what's next for me? 19:30 --> 19:34 And my next goal was to go to the premiere. 19:34 --> 19:45 I wanted to be at the premiere because I wanted to know that the first time, you know, I appeared on that screen in a Rocky movie, I wanted to see it before anybody else. 19:45 --> 19:53 So I did everything in my power within that year, within that 12-month stretch of trying to find a way to get to the premiere. 19:54 --> 20:01 And this is really where the whole thing happens because everything I did to try to get to the premiere failed. 20:02 --> 20:04 And, you know, I couldn't believe it all failed. 20:04 --> 20:06 I thought I had it all figured out. 20:06 --> 20:09 But almost every step of the way, I reached failure. 20:10 --> 20:15 And in life, once you fail, that's actually your first step to success. 20:16 --> 20:20 So that's a, you know, that's a good philosophical sentence there. 20:20 --> 20:24 And it's failures that propel you to the next step. 20:24 --> 20:28 And I guess, you know, I kind of learned that also from the Rocky movies, too. 20:28 --> 20:31 I kept going, I kept going, kept going. 20:31 --> 20:34 And I found a way to finally get to the premiere. 20:35 --> 20:42 And not only did I get to the premiere, but I got, I got these seats to the premiere that are unbelievable. 20:42 --> 20:52 And I think every reader really is going to enjoy reading that, reading, reading it to see what seats I got and how I did it and all the things that transpired to getting there. 20:53 --> 20:54 So I don't want to give too much away. 20:54 --> 20:57 I want them to enjoy the story. 20:58 --> 20:58 I got there. 20:59 --> 21:05 And then at the end of the premiere, at the end of seeing myself on screen, we go to the after party. 21:06 --> 21:13 And basically, you know, being in an after party with cast members of the film and, you know, just soaking it all in. 21:13 --> 21:17 The after party was actually in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 21:18 --> 21:21 And what a great place to have a Rocky after party. 21:21 --> 21:23 You know, you're basically right there. 21:24 --> 21:28 So I was one of the last ones to leave the after party. 21:28 --> 21:33 You know, I know you recently interviewed a great guy named Mike Cunda, the Rocky impersonator. 21:33 --> 21:34 Yes, of course. 21:34 --> 21:35 Great guy. 21:35 --> 21:37 I think, I think me and him were like the last two to leave. 21:38 --> 21:40 Because I met him there. 21:40 --> 21:41 I met him there, too. 21:41 --> 21:45 And we didn't figure out that, you know, who each other was until years later. 21:45 --> 21:47 But he's a great guy. 21:47 --> 21:49 I'm getting ready to leave the premiere. 21:50 --> 21:52 And, you know, my life's like, can we go? 21:52 --> 21:53 And I'm like, you know, yes. 21:54 --> 21:55 You know, I knew it was time. 21:55 --> 21:56 I knew I took this thing to the distance. 21:57 --> 22:00 You know, being in the movie, going to the premiere, having all these cool things. 22:00 --> 22:03 And then, you know, we decided to turn around and walk out. 22:04 --> 22:14 And from walking out of the doors of the museum to walking to the top of the Rocky steps, the things that were going on in my mind was like, okay, you know, it's over. 22:15 --> 22:17 You know, like my whole Rocky thing is over. 22:17 --> 22:19 There's nothing left for me to do with Rocky. 22:20 --> 22:21 You know, what do I do? 22:21 --> 22:22 There was no goal next. 22:22 --> 22:22 You know what I mean? 22:22 --> 22:28 I get to the top of the stairs and I turn around to her and I say, one more thing. 22:28 --> 22:30 And she's like, what now? 22:30 --> 22:33 My wife's got the patience of a saint. 22:33 --> 22:35 But, you know, at that point she was really tired. 22:36 --> 22:39 She's like, yeah, she's like, what now? 22:39 --> 22:42 I said, can you just take one more picture of me? 22:42 --> 22:46 I just want this one picture standing on the top of the Rocky steps. 22:46 --> 22:50 And, you know, this will be my lasting memory of such a wonderful night. 22:50 --> 22:52 And she's like, yes, yes, anything. 22:52 --> 22:54 You know, she just wanted to get back to the hotel, you know? 22:54 --> 22:55 Right. 22:55 --> 22:59 I do the Rocky pose from Rocky Balboa, which was the one arm in the air. 22:59 --> 23:06 She steps back to take the photo and something magical happened during that photo. 23:06 --> 23:14 And, again, the readers in the book will truly, truly enjoy what transpired from that photograph. 23:14 --> 23:21 But that photograph, which is actually part of the front cover of my book, the picture that she took. 23:22 --> 23:22 Yeah. 23:22 --> 23:26 That photograph is what motivated me to write a book. 23:27 --> 23:27 That's awesome. 23:28 --> 23:29 That's really cool, please. 23:29 --> 23:34 When you see the photograph and you see it in color on my website, rockyspirit.org, 23:35 --> 23:44 you will really be amazed by the meaning of the photograph and the power and the energy that went into the whole Rocky thing. 23:44 --> 23:47 You know, life is all about positive energy. 23:48 --> 23:52 The law of attraction plays a major role in the story as well. 23:52 --> 23:55 And it's really you become what you think about. 23:56 --> 23:59 You know, your life experiences are what you put in your mind. 24:00 --> 24:03 And if you put the good things in your mind, good things will happen. 24:03 --> 24:05 You know, try not to let those negative things in. 24:05 --> 24:05 I love it. 24:05 --> 24:07 I am a person. 24:07 --> 24:10 Now, does each movie have a different message for you than the results that way? 24:11 --> 24:12 Oh, yeah, absolutely. 24:12 --> 24:16 You know, the first one will always, always, always, always be special. 24:16 --> 24:19 The original Rocky is the best movie by far. 24:20 --> 24:20 Right. 24:20 --> 24:21 It could never be duplicated. 24:22 --> 24:23 It's tremendous. 24:24 --> 24:30 Everything that went into that movie, every character, every extra, every person that was in it, you know, 24:30 --> 24:37 from the gym attendants to Mickey, of course, to the ice skating rink attendant. 24:37 --> 24:39 I mean, every part of it. 24:41 --> 24:43 Every part of it was special. 24:43 --> 24:48 I love that scene with the ice skating rink, you know, when they're doing the bartering and how much to pay for the reason. 24:50 --> 24:51 It's the best, too. 24:52 --> 24:52 You know. 24:53 --> 24:55 And he's the best, man. 24:56 --> 24:57 That was a great scene. 24:57 --> 24:59 You know, you hear a lot of talk about it. 24:59 --> 25:01 There were supposed to be a lot of extras there. 25:01 --> 25:02 It turned out to not to be. 25:03 --> 25:05 And, you know, they went with no extras. 25:05 --> 25:08 And, you know, everything in the film just worked out perfectly. 25:08 --> 25:15 You know, no matter what happened, when things went wrong, it was actually the best thing that happened to the film. 25:15 --> 25:16 Isn't that it? 25:16 --> 25:17 Every time something. 25:17 --> 25:18 I'm sorry. 25:18 --> 25:18 No, no. 25:19 --> 25:21 Yeah, it's interesting how that worked out for the film. 25:21 --> 25:24 For things that they wrote in the script to do, they have a lot of extras. 25:24 --> 25:28 And there's no extras, but it makes that scene more touching and more personal. 25:29 --> 25:30 It's just the food on the rink. 25:31 --> 25:34 And even, you know, a lot of lines in the original were ad-libbed. 25:34 --> 25:36 You know, a lot of Mickey's lines were ad-libbed. 25:36 --> 25:36 Yeah. 25:36 --> 25:37 They're in Tamina. 25:39 --> 25:41 I wanted to see one of the food kitsch. 25:41 --> 25:45 Then there was a scene with Rocky and Adrian first kissed. 25:45 --> 25:47 I don't know if you knew this is what you probably do. 25:47 --> 25:49 Talia Shire actually had the food. 25:49 --> 25:50 Yes. 25:51 --> 25:54 And so she was really hesitant to kiss Stallone. 25:54 --> 25:59 And she wasn't feeling very good, which just made her character become more shy and comprehensive. 25:59 --> 26:02 But she was actually going to want to kiss Stallone in real life. 26:03 --> 26:04 I know. 26:04 --> 26:05 It's a big part of the film. 26:05 --> 26:10 It's really where two people who, you know, who needed somebody. 26:10 --> 26:12 They both were incomplete people. 26:13 --> 26:16 And they came together at that point and made one complete person. 26:17 --> 26:22 And at that point, it kind of started to fulfill one complete dream. 26:23 --> 26:24 And it all started coming together. 26:24 --> 26:29 And that was really the jumping off point or, you know, the tipping point. 26:29 --> 26:29 I agree. 26:30 --> 26:31 Now, for Rocky II, what... 26:31 --> 26:36 Now, in your book, I should ask before, because I don't want to wait for the readers to buy your book. 26:36 --> 26:39 In your book, do you talk about each movie and what message it brings? 26:39 --> 26:40 Yep. 26:40 --> 26:43 So each film, I think, brings a really special message. 26:43 --> 26:44 Okay. 26:44 --> 26:44 All right. 26:44 --> 26:49 You know, of course, in all the films, it's about perseverance. 26:49 --> 26:49 Right. 26:49 --> 26:55 The power of, you know, never giving up and always going the distance and always finding a way. 26:55 --> 27:08 And, you know, in the second film, you know, Rocky was at a point in his life, in his movie life, where, you know, at the end of the fight, he didn't know where he was going. 27:08 --> 27:11 And he tried a couple of different things. 27:11 --> 27:14 And those things didn't seem to work out. 27:14 --> 27:21 They didn't work out because they weren't really aligned with his lifelong goal, his lifelong passion to become a somebody. 27:21 --> 27:32 And, you know, once he got that second chance and once everything, you know, once, you know, Adrian sort of woke up and said, when, which is, you know, one of the tremendous movie moments, you know. 27:32 --> 27:33 Right. 27:33 --> 27:37 When she did that, it gave him all the energy in the world. 27:37 --> 27:40 And I love the way they did that in the film. 27:40 --> 27:50 I love the way they brought you down as, you know, they took the view and they brought the view down to the very bottom, you know, with Adrian kind of struggling in the hospital. 27:50 --> 27:56 And then all of a sudden she wakes up and she says, one of the great motivational speeches of all time. 27:57 --> 27:57 When? 27:58 --> 28:01 It was a one word speech, but it was one of the great ones. 28:02 --> 28:09 And, you know, all of a sudden the music comes on and everything just takes off and the power and the energy and the excitement. 28:09 --> 28:11 And you just kind of felt it. 28:11 --> 28:12 I'm so happy that you won. 28:13 --> 28:14 Well, yeah. 28:14 --> 28:14 Can you imagine? 28:14 --> 28:15 Can you imagine? 28:15 --> 28:17 That would have been. 28:18 --> 28:19 And you know what? 28:20 --> 28:26 Being a kid in the theater, I was sitting there watching it, you know, for the first time in the movie, same theater, U.A. 28:26 --> 28:30 Quartet, watching it in the theater saying, oh, they're not going to do this to me again. 28:32 --> 28:34 They're not going to make them lose again, you know. 28:34 --> 28:43 But then when that count of 10 happened and he stood up, I can't tell you, the theater went absolutely nuts. 28:44 --> 28:44 That's awesome. 28:44 --> 28:47 People were high-fiving each other. 28:48 --> 28:49 This was even before high-fives were popular. 28:50 --> 28:53 They were hugging each other. 28:53 --> 28:54 Strangers were hugging me. 28:55 --> 28:57 It was really, really cool. 28:57 --> 29:01 And you just, again, you don't experience any types of movies like that ever. 29:01 --> 29:02 That is incredible. 29:02 --> 29:03 Truly incredible. 29:03 --> 29:03 Yep. 29:04 --> 29:05 Now, your book doesn't cover Creed. 29:06 --> 29:06 No, it doesn't. 29:07 --> 29:09 It was written before Creed. 29:09 --> 29:10 It doesn't cover it at all, no. 29:11 --> 29:13 Do you ever think about doing an appendage to it or something? 29:13 --> 29:17 Oh, yeah, there's a Rocky Spirit 2 in me somewhere. 29:17 --> 29:23 It's a good question because I remember when I was writing the book, you know, I was struggling to finish the book. 29:23 --> 29:24 And I didn't know why. 29:25 --> 29:27 You know, I had most of the book laid out. 29:27 --> 29:28 Most of it was written. 29:28 --> 29:31 It took me three years to complete the book. 29:31 --> 29:32 I couldn't get it done. 29:32 --> 29:42 And a very close friend of mine who's, you know, like my Rocky buddy, his name is Pete, he said to me, he said, you know, you can't finish the book because you haven't lived the ending. 29:43 --> 29:46 And I looked at him and I was like, wow, that's very smart, you know. 29:46 --> 29:47 What do you mean by that? 29:48 --> 29:52 And he says to me, he goes, Felice, when you live the ending, you'll finish the book. 29:52 --> 29:54 And that's exactly what happened. 29:55 --> 29:59 I, you know, I couldn't finish it until I actually lived it. 29:59 --> 30:02 And I lived one of the great endings. 30:03 --> 30:09 And that's, you know, one of the favorite parts of my book, too, is how I go through those final two chapters of the book. 30:09 --> 30:11 The book is set up in 15 chapters. 30:11 --> 30:12 So it's 15 rounds. 30:12 --> 30:14 You got to go the distance with me, Rocky Spirit. 30:16 --> 30:20 Those last two chapters are really, really exciting and two of my favorites. 30:20 --> 30:24 Well, I'm going to be buying the book because everyone that we've interviewed, we ended up buying their product. 30:24 --> 30:26 That's our promise to you. 30:27 --> 30:27 That's cool. 30:27 --> 30:28 Thank you. 30:28 --> 30:29 Thank you for that. 30:29 --> 30:31 And don't forget to give me a review. 30:31 --> 30:40 Right now, on Amazon.com, the book is the most reviewed book connected to the subject of Rocky Balboa in the world. 30:41 --> 30:41 You know what? 30:41 --> 30:43 I'm very proud of those reviews. 30:44 --> 30:44 You should be. 30:44 --> 30:50 I was going to tell you, because I, of course, looked at Amazon and read people's reviews and try to get a feel of what it's done for people. 30:50 --> 30:51 Very high reviews. 30:51 --> 30:54 There was like, I think it was 99% five stars. 30:54 --> 30:56 One schmuck gave you four and that was it. 30:58 --> 31:04 You know, it's funny because I loved his review, actually, you know, because it's so honest. 31:04 --> 31:07 And, you know, you want honest reviews up there. 31:07 --> 31:11 There was one part of the story that, you know, that wasn't his preference. 31:12 --> 31:15 So, you know, everybody has a preference in life, you know. 31:15 --> 31:21 And I was glad that, you know, he gave me his complete thoughts. 31:21 --> 31:30 But what I liked about it was, even though there was a part of the book that wasn't his preference, he also said the book is so worth reading. 31:30 --> 31:31 And I love that. 31:32 --> 31:32 Right. 31:32 --> 31:35 And, you know, you know that that's an honest review. 31:35 --> 31:36 No, that's good. 31:36 --> 31:41 We're a newer podcast and we're going to have 14 episodes that are available on iTunes. 31:42 --> 31:44 And we're always encouraging people to leave reviews, too. 31:44 --> 31:47 I know how you feel because you want to get that feedback. 31:47 --> 31:50 And we've always said, please leave us a negative review. 31:50 --> 31:51 One of those, too. 31:51 --> 31:54 I want to hear people think about us, too. 31:54 --> 31:55 If you're listening, you're going to like us. 31:55 --> 31:56 You find that amazing, too. 31:56 --> 31:58 Now, what is the law of attraction? 31:58 --> 32:03 So the law of attraction, you know, it's something that I met up with a woman. 32:04 --> 32:05 Her name was Marcy. 32:05 --> 32:08 And Marcy taught me a lot about the law of attraction. 32:08 --> 32:09 And that's how I started getting interested. 32:09 --> 32:12 She was a heart coach. 32:12 --> 32:20 You know, she started telling me about it and telling me about positive thinking and about how you attract into you everything that you think about. 32:20 --> 32:26 So, you know, the more positive your thoughts are, the more positive your life is going to be. 32:27 --> 32:31 And I started listening to her and really buying into a lot what she was saying. 32:32 --> 32:39 There's a book out there that's pretty famous that sold millions and millions of copies about the law of attraction. 32:40 --> 32:43 And there's also a DVD related to that book as well. 32:43 --> 32:47 When I started to get interested in it, I went out and I bought the DVD. 32:48 --> 32:56 And I remember, you know, I always had in my mind because Marcy had told me when I sat with her and I told her my Rocky story. 32:56 --> 32:58 She said to me, she says, you're going to be an author. 32:58 --> 33:00 She says, you're going to write a book. 33:00 --> 33:02 And I said, no, I said, no, I'm not. 33:02 --> 33:04 You know, I'm not going to do that. 33:04 --> 33:05 And she says, think again. 33:06 --> 33:12 And when she said, think again, she planted the seed in my mind about, yeah, I can do this. 33:12 --> 33:16 And then all I had to do was nurture the seed and make it grow. 33:16 --> 33:21 So I'm watching this DVD one day in my house about the law of attraction. 33:21 --> 33:27 And there was a person, another very famous author who's done a series of books. 33:27 --> 33:32 And he talks about what inspired him to start his first book. 33:32 --> 33:41 And as he's talking about that on the DVD, almost like automatically, I got out of my seat, went over to my computer, 33:42 --> 33:50 typed the title of the book, put my name and typed the first paragraph of the book while the DVD was playing in the background. 33:51 --> 33:52 And then I went back to the DVD. 33:53 --> 33:55 And then three years later, I was an author of a book. 33:56 --> 33:58 It was all done from that inspiration. 33:58 --> 34:01 I got the law of attraction and power of positive thinking. 34:01 --> 34:05 And then I got that little push from the law of attraction DVD. 34:05 --> 34:08 And the next thing you know, everything fell into place. 34:08 --> 34:12 So positive thinking plays a big role in life. 34:12 --> 34:17 And what I get a kick out of, nobody really has analyzed the Rocky movies like I have. 34:18 --> 34:26 I've analyzed them to where I've taken them piece by piece and really, you know, showing people what the meanings of all the films are, 34:26 --> 34:32 what different parts and different scenes are, and how they pertain back to the law of attraction and positive thinking. 34:33 --> 34:35 And I'm really proud of my Twitter account. 34:35 --> 34:39 I have a very large Twitter account, at Rocky Spirit. 34:39 --> 34:40 I have a number of followers. 34:41 --> 34:52 And one of my things is, you know, I like to find unique photographs of the Rocky films and post positive words and positive thoughts to motivate people to also find their, you know, 34:52 --> 34:56 find their goals in life and give them the opportunity to go to distance. 34:56 --> 34:59 So I get a real kick out of doing that on a regular basis. 34:59 --> 35:03 And I love the feedback that I get from people around the world. 35:03 --> 35:03 It's really cool. 35:03 --> 35:04 That's awesome. 35:04 --> 35:11 I love how you talk about kind of spreading the Rocky Spirit forward, that positive energy. 35:11 --> 35:19 You know, those things you do to individuals, but you've taken that up by yourself to kind of keep perpetuating that spirit of other people through social media and your book. 35:20 --> 35:24 And making people happy in life probably just makes you feel good in general, I bet. 35:24 --> 35:25 Oh, yeah, absolutely. 35:26 --> 35:31 You know, anytime you can share that and you can share that type of positive energy and, you know, put a smile on somebody's face. 35:32 --> 35:34 I mentioned Mike before, Mike Curzio. 35:35 --> 35:42 Me and him, we did a promotion a couple of years ago over at the Rocky Steps where we helped a woman with CP. 35:43 --> 35:46 One of her goals in life was, you know, she was in a wheelchair. 35:47 --> 35:51 And one of her goals was to walk or run, you know, up the Rocky Steps. 35:51 --> 35:54 Both of us, we helped her up the Rocky Steps. 35:54 --> 35:57 And we literally, you know, we grabbed one on each. 35:58 --> 35:59 You know, we got her all the way up to the top. 35:59 --> 36:07 And it was to get her up to the top of the steps and to share that energy was one of the greatest accomplishments and feelings. 36:07 --> 36:08 I can't even tell you. 36:08 --> 36:10 It was unbelievable. 36:10 --> 36:13 But I bet if you asked him again, he'd say the same thing. 36:13 --> 36:20 That was so exciting and the adrenaline and the happiness of that woman getting up to the top of the steps. 36:21 --> 36:26 And I got to tell you, I would love to do that even more, you know, especially for kids. 36:26 --> 36:27 It's for kids in need. 36:28 --> 36:32 I'd love to help them and give them an experience of the lifetime and get them up those steps. 36:32 --> 36:37 Because I think those 72 steps really are the meaning of life. 36:37 --> 36:41 Every step is the meaning until you get to the top. 36:41 --> 36:47 And when you get to the top, there's something really super magical on the top of those steps. 36:47 --> 36:51 And it goes all the way back to that photograph that I talked about before. 36:51 --> 36:55 That photograph will kind of sum it up, just how magical it is. 36:55 --> 36:55 Yeah. 36:55 --> 36:57 Thank you for bringing up that story. 36:57 --> 36:58 Her name is Brenda, I believe. 36:59 --> 37:04 And I think she also has a story about it on her blog or something. 37:04 --> 37:05 She talks about it. 37:05 --> 37:06 I actually wanted to talk to you about that. 37:06 --> 37:09 So it's funny how all you guys are connected in your own way. 37:09 --> 37:12 When I talk to a bunch of you guys, you all met each other already. 37:13 --> 37:14 The rocky world. 37:14 --> 37:15 Yeah. 37:16 --> 37:16 Is that cool? 37:17 --> 37:18 How we all come together? 37:18 --> 37:19 Yeah, absolutely. 37:19 --> 37:20 And even Mike Vitez. 37:20 --> 37:25 Mike did the book Rocky Stories, which I love. 37:25 --> 37:25 I love the book. 37:26 --> 37:30 And Mike's book was also a motivation for me to write my book. 37:30 --> 37:34 Because I used to run a newspaper company called the Long Island Press. 37:34 --> 37:42 When Mike's book came out in 2006, a copy of the book actually mysteriously landed up on my desk. 37:42 --> 37:42 Oh, wow. 37:42 --> 37:49 And even though I was on the business end of the newspaper business, I wasn't on the editorial end. 37:49 --> 37:54 The editor-in-chief came to me and said, listen, I want you to write a review on this book. 37:54 --> 37:58 And he goes, anyone in the company that should be writing a review on a rocky book, it should be you. 38:00 --> 38:03 I got to review Mike's book. 38:03 --> 38:04 I got to meet Mike. 38:04 --> 38:08 Mike was a big part of my experience also at the premiere. 38:09 --> 38:11 And he helped me out a lot. 38:11 --> 38:12 Mike Vitez. 38:12 --> 38:14 It's amazing how everything all connects. 38:14 --> 38:17 Okay, so I said a question about Burt Young. 38:18 --> 38:18 Oh, sure. 38:19 --> 38:21 I guess you read your book. 38:21 --> 38:23 How did you get Burt to read the book? 38:23 --> 38:24 How did that happen? 38:24 --> 38:32 Everything to me in my lifetime has been connected to Rocky in really strange ways and eerie ways. 38:32 --> 38:36 I've always been connected to it, even since I was a kid. 38:36 --> 38:41 Burt Young and my godfather knew each other back in the day. 38:42 --> 38:44 They were from the same town. 38:45 --> 38:46 They were very friendly back in the day. 38:47 --> 38:52 And at one point, Burt, I don't know if he tells a lot of people, but I know he tells a story. 38:52 --> 38:56 He used to own a carpet business in a town called Corona Queens. 38:56 --> 39:02 He actually installed a carpet in my godfather's apartment, which was in my childhood house. 39:03 --> 39:04 Wow. 39:05 --> 39:07 So that's the truth, right? 39:08 --> 39:14 Then right after the original Rocky movie came out, right around the corner from my house at a local diner, 39:15 --> 39:22 Burt Young and Talia Shire were filming a made-for-television movie called Daddy, I Don't Like It This Way. 39:23 --> 39:25 There they were around the corner from my house. 39:25 --> 39:29 And when I heard they were going to be there, you know, and all the excitement of seeing Rocky 1, 39:30 --> 39:33 and here was two cast members from the movie right there. 39:33 --> 39:42 I ran, you know, on my bicycle, got on the bicycle, went around the corner, and, you know, I ran into Burt, was introduced to him, told him the connection with my godfather. 39:42 --> 39:45 He treated me so nicely that day. 39:45 --> 39:48 That was the first actor I ever met in real person. 39:49 --> 39:55 And the way he treated me that day really left an impression on me, and I'm so happy, you know, that he did. 39:55 --> 40:02 And then all of a sudden, you know, out of nowhere, the doors of the diner open up, and Talia Shire comes walking down the stairs. 40:02 --> 40:11 You know, I'm this 11-year-old boy, or 12 years old actually at the time, and, you know, my eyes are open bright as, you know, Adrian is walking right towards me. 40:12 --> 40:12 Oh. 40:12 --> 40:17 And Burt introduces me to her, and she gives me this kiss on the cheek. 40:18 --> 40:19 I couldn't believe it. 40:20 --> 40:21 Oh, wow. 40:21 --> 40:26 It was one of the coolest things ever to, you know, get a kiss on the cheek by Adrian. 40:26 --> 40:27 You know, you're 12 years old. 40:28 --> 40:29 It was fascinating. 40:29 --> 40:31 And that's where it all started with Burt. 40:32 --> 40:41 And then, you know, many years later, I reconnected with him, obviously, at the filming of Rocky Balboa, you know, told him that story again. 40:41 --> 40:45 He treated me, the three days while I was on set, I mean, he treated me like family. 40:46 --> 40:54 Came over to me all the time, gave me hugs, you know, asked me how I was doing, how's the family, you know, you have everything you need. 40:54 --> 40:56 Here's where the big scene is going to happen. 40:56 --> 40:57 You make sure you're sitting over here. 40:58 --> 40:59 You know, he was great. 41:00 --> 41:02 He really, really, really was. 41:02 --> 41:18 And then, you know, the next thing happens where, you know, I'm at the premiere and I noticed that the county supervisor of where, you know, of Long Island was actually sitting in the row that I was sitting in because I was also sitting. 41:18 --> 41:19 And I'm going to give a little secret. 41:19 --> 41:24 I was also sitting with the cast members of the film in the same row. 41:24 --> 41:27 And then I saw him and I made the connection. 41:27 --> 41:31 And, you know, he's actually a good friend of Bert's. 41:31 --> 41:35 A series of other things led to where he set up a lunch for me and Bert. 41:35 --> 41:39 Bert, right now, he lives on Long Island, so he doesn't live too far from me. 41:40 --> 41:45 So I get to, you know, I get to go over to his flat, sit down with him and view all his paintings. 41:45 --> 41:46 He's an artist. 41:46 --> 41:49 He does some great paintings, see all that. 41:49 --> 41:53 And then, you know, we went across the street, went to this restaurant, we sat down. 41:54 --> 42:00 And now I thought at the time, I said to myself, what am I going to say to this man for an hour, you know, during lunch? 42:01 --> 42:02 What am I going to talk about? 42:03 --> 42:08 And three hours later, we were talking so much. 42:09 --> 42:13 And then he's finally, you know, Bert's finally says, kid, don't you got to go back to work? 42:15 --> 42:17 And I'm like, yeah, you know, I do. 42:17 --> 42:19 And we had a three-hour lunch. 42:19 --> 42:20 It was just a fascinating lunch. 42:21 --> 42:34 And, you know, I went over the entire book with him, let him know the entire story, you know, then, you know, eventually shared a copy of the book, got him to give me the endorsement that he did, calling it a masterpiece. 42:34 --> 42:37 I mean, he absolutely loved the story. 42:37 --> 42:46 And to get him to endorse that book and to have him do that for me was such a great feeling, knowing the attachments I had to him in life. 42:46 --> 42:50 So I feel like, you know, very, very special that I had that opportunity. 42:51 --> 42:58 You know, I do get to see him, you know, quite a few times because he does a lot of events now on Long Island. 42:58 --> 42:59 He's very charitable. 43:00 --> 43:01 So it's great to see him around. 43:01 --> 43:03 You know, he's very young. 43:03 --> 43:04 You know, he stayed at home. 43:04 --> 43:05 He's a member of the community. 43:06 --> 43:06 That's great. 43:07 --> 43:08 Boy, I... 43:08 --> 43:09 I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that question. 43:10 --> 43:15 I was just going to say, you know, this goes to show you how good of an actor until you're younger to play somebody like George. 43:16 --> 43:16 Oh, yeah. 43:16 --> 43:19 He was unbelievable as an actor. 43:19 --> 43:25 I mean, you know, he got a lot of credit for some of the roles that he did back in the day. 43:25 --> 43:35 You know, I love hearing his story about the scene with the turkey and how much that scene actually hurt him in real life emotionally. 43:35 --> 43:38 You know, it's really interesting to hear what he talks about, about that scene. 43:39 --> 43:40 Oh, yeah. 43:40 --> 43:41 I love you. 43:41 --> 43:49 He said he put so much energy into that scene and it was so realistic that it really took an effect on him. 43:49 --> 43:51 And, you know, he was very fond of Talia Shire. 43:52 --> 43:53 That's awesome. 43:53 --> 43:56 Now, how did it feel when you first held your book in your home? 43:56 --> 43:57 Oh, man. 43:57 --> 43:57 It was... 43:57 --> 43:59 That was a major accomplishment. 43:59 --> 44:06 I mean, when it came in the middle and it was in this, you know, like little brown box and I opened the box and opened it up, 44:06 --> 44:10 the first thing I did was just threw my arms in the air, Rocky style. 44:11 --> 44:15 And, you know, I started dancing around and my kids were like, what's he doing? 44:16 --> 44:20 Kids, they think I'm crazy, man, when it comes down to Rocky. 44:21 --> 44:23 They think I'm crazy. 44:23 --> 44:26 And I was dancing around and so excited. 44:26 --> 44:30 And I couldn't wait to get out there and bring the book to the world. 44:30 --> 44:32 You know, I'm doing it all on my own. 44:32 --> 44:35 I'm doing it Rocky style, you know, as the underdog. 44:36 --> 44:39 You know, I don't have the big publishers or anything like that. 44:39 --> 44:46 And when I see the reviews I get around the world and I see how far this book has been purchased from people in different countries, 44:46 --> 44:48 it blows me away. 44:48 --> 44:51 I mean, I'm so proud of it, that it had the effect. 44:52 --> 44:56 This one young man from England, he read the story. 44:56 --> 45:05 He was so motivated by the story that he actually got on a plane with his girlfriend at the time to go to the Rocky Steps because of the book, 45:06 --> 45:11 to get to the top of the Rocky Steps to make her not his girlfriend anymore, to make her his fiancee. 45:11 --> 45:14 He proposed on the top of the Rocky Steps. 45:14 --> 45:18 And that was done out of motivation from the book. 45:18 --> 45:23 That type of, yeah, those types of stories, that's what really motivates me. 45:23 --> 45:27 I mean, my goal was to change at least one person's life with this book. 45:27 --> 45:33 And when I see the effect that I've had on so many people, I'm really, really proud of it. 45:33 --> 45:38 And I'm proud, you know, I'm proud now to be connected to the Rocky series in a special way. 45:38 --> 45:41 That's, please, that is an awesome story. 45:41 --> 45:43 And I was going to ask you how it's affected people's lives. 45:43 --> 45:44 And you tied it up very well. 45:44 --> 45:45 Before we go. 45:46 --> 45:46 Yep. 45:46 --> 45:47 I have one thing. 45:47 --> 45:51 If you could ask Sebastian Shalom one question, what would it be? 45:51 --> 45:54 If I could ask him one question, what would it be? 45:54 --> 45:56 I have to think now. 45:56 --> 45:58 What would that question be? 45:58 --> 45:59 What would that question be? 45:59 --> 46:01 The movies or his life or anything. 46:01 --> 46:04 Basically, he has like a truth sermon and he has to tell you the truth. 46:05 --> 46:06 What would the question be? 46:07 --> 46:10 I got one, but I can't say it. 46:11 --> 46:12 I'm sorry, audience. 46:12 --> 46:13 I can't say it. 46:16 --> 46:27 But I think if I'm going to ask him a question, it's going to be, I guess I'm going to ask him how much he's enjoyed how Rocky has affected his life. 46:27 --> 46:28 Great question. 46:29 --> 46:29 Yeah. 46:29 --> 46:32 So I'm going to take the mulligan on what I would really ask him. 46:32 --> 46:35 And I'm going to go with that question. 46:35 --> 46:39 Yeah, I guess there's a question. 46:39 --> 46:43 Yeah, if he's forced to answer a question, that would be kind of fun to ask him some stuff. 46:44 --> 46:44 I know, right? 46:45 --> 46:46 You've got to figure out what the question would be. 46:48 --> 46:49 Yeah, that's awesome. 46:49 --> 46:52 Elise, it's been an absolute joy and pleasure to talk to you. 46:52 --> 46:56 Thank you so much for giving my – my brother couldn't be here during the interview. 46:56 --> 46:58 That's awesome. 46:58 --> 47:01 So, yeah, all of us Rocky guys stick together. 47:02 --> 47:08 You know, we feel that it's all our – you know, like the torch is passing to us that we carry it on, you know, 40 more years. 47:09 --> 47:10 Yeah, that's the goal, right? 47:11 --> 47:12 That's actually the goal. 47:12 --> 47:12 Yeah. 47:13 --> 47:14 It's been a complete joy, Elise. 47:14 --> 47:17 And thanks so much for coming on the podcast. 47:18 --> 47:20 And, yeah, I hope to talk to you again. 47:20 --> 47:23 And I look forward to reading your book and reviewing it for you. 47:23 --> 47:24 Thank you so much. 47:24 --> 47:25 I appreciate it. 47:25 --> 47:26 Ryan and Ruben, great job. 47:26 --> 47:30 And continue the success and continue doing what you're doing. 47:31 --> 47:33 You guys are going the distance with Rocky. 47:33 --> 47:35 So, congratulations, fellas. 47:35 --> 47:36 Thank you so much, please. 47:36 --> 47:37 Have a good day now. 47:37 --> 47:37 Bye. 47:37 --> 47:38 Bye. 47:38 --> 47:39 Bye. 47:39 --> 47:40 Bye. 47:40 --> 47:41 Bye. 47:41 --> 47:42 Bye. 47:42 --> 47:43 Bye. 47:43 --> 47:44 Bye. 47:44 --> 47:45 Bye. 47:45 --> 47:46 Bye. 47:46 --> 47:47 Bye. 47:47 --> 47:48 Bye. 47:48 --> 47:49 Bye. 47:49 --> 47:50 Bye. 47:50 --> 47:51 Bye. 47:51 --> 47:52 Bye. 47:52 --> 47:53 Bye. 47:53 --> 47:54 Bye. 47:54 --> 47:55 Bye. 47:55 --> 47:56 Bye. 47:56 --> 47:57 Bye. 47:57 --> 47:58 Bye. 47:58 --> 47:59 Bye. 47:59 --> 48:00 Bye. 48:00 --> 48:01 Bye. 48:01 --> 48:02 Bye. 48:02 --> 48:03 Bye. 48:03 --> 48:04 Bye. 48:04 --> 48:05 Bye. 48:05 --> 48:06 Bye. 48:06 --> 48:07 Bye. 48:07 --> 48:07 Bye. 48:07 --> 48:08 Bye. 48:08 --> 48:09 Thank you. 48:09 --> 48:11 Thank you. 48:11 --> 48:12 Thank you.