Michael B. Jordan: 'I had to pitch Rocky to Sly'

Creed actor Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler promised Sylvester Stallone the new Rocky film would be "sick".

Despite the bold claims, Sylvester was reluctant to return as the famous boxer. It's fortunate he did though, as on Sunday (10Jan16) he scooped the top prize at the Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor. It was the first high profile accolade he has won, and Michael has admitted the honour left his co-star dazed.

"With Sly, you know he turned us away a few times," Michael explained to Absolute Radio. "In the beginning he was not interested whatsoever. (We were) pitching to him about it being sick, but Sly was very not into... Rocky's done, he's retired, it's over he did not want to bring Rocky back to the screen.

"For us it was a big deal getting him involved. We knew we couldn't do it without him, so honestly his wife Jennifer, thank you so much (for convincing him). Hey man sometimes you've got to go for the woman behind the man, standing next to the man to make it happen. All women out there, we appreciate you!"

This is the second time Michael and filmmaker Ryan worked together; the first was on critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station. The film was about a former convict trying to turn his life around, and the true story won Michael widespread praise. The actor revealed it was on the set of the dramatic film that Ryan first brought up the idea of Creed.

"Honestly we were in the audition process for Fruitvale Station and he was like, 'Man I think I've got this idea for doing a movie about (Rocky's rival) Apollo Creed's son, do you want to play him', and I was like 'Cool'," Michael recalled. "That's it. Literally that's all it was, that was it. And then we went on for the next three months shooting Fruitvale Station. And then once we finished that project, things started becoming more and more real."