Sylvester Stallone: Hollywood Abandoned Middle America

Legendary actor Sylvester Stallone says Hollywood has long abandoned Middle America, but director Taylor Sheridan is reaching an audience eager for narratives centered in the heartland. “It’s very, very important because that audience [Middle America] was ignored for centuries, it seems, since John Wayne,” Stallone said during an interview on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. The Tulsa King star went on to credit Sheridan for bucking that trend, noting that the director thrives because he is delivering to a neglected audience the kind of stories it had been craving. “He really mined a consciousness, like, ‘Oh, we forgot about that guy in the middle of America.’ They’re always writing about California and New York,” Stallone said. “But Middle America, it’s a different vibe.” “People were starving for it. It’s like a simpler world and more, I would say, confrontational?” the Rocky star added, to which the podcast host, Marina Hyde, suggested, “A more masculine world?” “Slightly, yeah,” Stallone replied. Even with Sheridan’s success, Hollywood still hasn’t adapted its filmmaking to what Middle American audiences are hoping to see in theaters, the Rambo star noted. A few years ago, Stallone and his family left California for Florida. Last year, the First Blood star said he has no regrets, adding that The Sunshine State fits his personality better. “The air seems to always be clean. We’re very, very near the water and that makes my wife incredibly happy. It makes me happy, and it’s just something about it. It’s just so lush,” Stallone said at the time. The actor was also recently named one of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors recipients, an honor announced by President Donald Trump in August of that year. Alana Mastrangelo-Wrask is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.