Stephan James will play the &34;Predator&34; star in Peter Farrelly's biopic about the making of &34;Rocky.&34; I Play Rocky casts actor to play late Carl Weath

Stephan James will play the "Predator" star in Peter Farrelly's biopic about the making of "Rocky."

I Play Rocky casts actor to play late Carl Weathers for making-of film

Stephan James will play the "Predator" star in Peter Farrelly's biopic about the making of "Rocky."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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October 2, 2025 5:42 p.m. ET

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Carl Weathers in 'Rocky'. Credit:

United Artists/Getty

*I Play Rocky* has found its Carl Weathers.

Amazon MGM revealed that Stephan James will portray the late *Action Jackson* actor in the forthcoming *Rocky* biopic, which will chronicle the making of the 1976 boxing classic.

James joins Anthony Ippolito, who is playing *Rocky* screenwriter-slash-star Sylvester Stallone, in the Peter Farrelly-directed drama. Ippolito previously played Al Pacino in the *Godfather* making-of biopic series *The Offer*.

Stephan James in Toronto in 2019.

George Pimentel/Getty

James is perhaps best known for co-leading Barry Jenkins' *If Beale Street Could Talk*, which the *Moonlight* filmmaker adapted from James Baldwin's novel in 2018. He also has experience portraying notable figures in other biographical dramas, as he played John Lewis in Ava DuVernay's 2014 Martin Luther King biopic *Selma* and headlined the 2016 Jesse Owens biopic *Race*.

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On the small screen, James performed alongside Julia Roberts in the Prime Video series *Homecoming*, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. He also played the titular role in Quibi's *#FreeRayshawn*, which earned him an Emmy nom for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series in 2020. He ultimately lost in that category to his costar Laurence Fishburne.

James recently appeared in *The Piano Lesson* opposite John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as the thriller *Night Always Comes*, which starred Vanessa Kirby. He can next be seen in Netflix's sci-fi movie *War Machine*, which also stars Alan Ritchson and Dennis Quaid.

Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers in 'Rocky'.

United Artists/Getty

Weathers began his career as a football player for San Diego State and later went pro as a defensive end for the Oakland Raiders. After studying acting in the off-seasons, he played small supporting roles in Blaxploitation movies *Bucktown* and *Friday Foster* before *Rocky* marked his big break.

Weathers played Apollo Creed, the boxer who served as the primary antagonist of *Rocky* and its 1979 sequel *Rocky II* before becoming a friend and ally to Stallone's Rocky Balboa in *Rocky III* (1982) and *Rocky IV* (1985).

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The original *Rocky* was one of the most significant American films of the 1970s, earning $225 million at the worldwide box office and scoring Oscar wins for Best Picture, Best Director (for John G. Avildsen), and Best Film Editing (for Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad). The film spawned five direct sequels, four of which were directed by Stallone, as well as three *Creed* spinoffs, which starred Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's son Adonis.

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