Sylvester Stallone tells TODAY the news of his "Rocky" co-star Carl Weathers' death earlier this month left him "numb."
"It still chokes me up," Stallone said on TODAY on Feb. 8.
"I saw him as Superman. He really was. He had the voice, the talent, the humor. He had it all," Stallone told Savannah Guthrie. "I couldn't have made it without him."
Stallone also shared his first impressions of Weathers when the actor auditioned for the role of Apollo Creed in the first "Rocky" movie, which was released in 1976.
At the time, Weathers, an ex-pro football player, had acted mostly in bit parts and guest star roles in movies and TV, like playing a cab driver in the 1975 comedy "The Four Deuces."
He would go on to portray Apollo in four "Rocky" films. The character dies in the ring in "Rocky IV."
"We got off to such a rocky start, because when he came in to audition with me, he goes, 'Where's the real actor? I can't read with the office guy.'
"I said, 'He's so arrogant, I love this guy,'" Stallone said with a laugh.
Weathers, who was 76, died peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 1, his family said in a statement.
“We lost a legend yesterday. My life was forever changed for the better the day I met Carl Weathers. Rest in power and keeping punching,” Stallone captioned an Instagram video posted on Feb. 2, before sharing a longer and emotional message in his clip.
“Today is an incredibly sad day for me. I’m so torn up, I can’t even tell you. I’m just trying to hold it in because Carl Weathers was such an integral part of my life, my success,” he said. “Everything about it, I give him incredible credit and kudos because when he walked into that room and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness. But I didn’t realize how great.”
Stallone added, “I never could’ve accomplished what we did with ‘Rocky’ without him.”
Stallone continued to praise Weathers, calling him “absolutely brilliant, his voice, his size, his presence, his athletic ability, but, most importantly, his heart, his soul. It’s a horrible loss,”
The actor then mentioned the painting behind him, which shows his "Rocky" character, Rocky Balboa, and Weathers' Apollo Creed throwing jabs at one another.
“It was probably the last moment we were ever in the ring together and I’ll never forget,” Stallone said of the artwork. “He was magic. I was so fortunate to be part of his life. Apollo, keep punching.”
Weathers portrayed Apollo in four of the "Rocky" films.
In a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Weathers reminisced about his time on the fictional sports drama franchise and even accidentally criticizing Stallone's acting.
“There was nobody to read with, and they said you’re going to read with the writer (Stallone),” Weather said with a chuckle. “And we read through the scene and at the end of it, I didn’t feel like it had really sailed, that the scene had sailed, and they were quiet and there was this moment of awkwardness, I felt, anyway.”
“So I just blurted out, ‘I could do a lot better if you got me a real actor to work with,’” he said, laughing. “So I just insulted the star of the movie without really knowing it and not intending to.”
The minor jab at the film's star, however, helped him secure the gig.
“Sometimes the mistakes are the ones that get you the gig,” Weathers said, sharing how Stallone felt that his comment was something Apollo would say.
The late actor would go on to express the great pride he had for the "Rocky" franchise.
“The scripts I read were compelling,” he said. “Those movies, for me, were not only interesting, but always worth making, worth being a part of and worth seeing.”
Liz Calvario is a Los Angeles-based reporter and editor for TODAY.com who covers entertainment, pop culture and trending news.
