Unbelievable story behind why Sylvester Stallone was born with facial paralysis

Actor Sylvester Stallone has revealed how he got his iconic ‘snarl’ after claiming he ‘didn’t think’ he was going to have a career in film because of the speech impediment it caused.

The 79-year-old, who earlier this year became a Special Ambassador to Hollywood with Jon Voight and Mel Gibson, has been active in the entertainment industry for almost six decades.

Since breaking through with 1974’s The Lords of Flatbush, Stallone has earned the crown of one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, launched the Rocky, Rambo, and Expendables franchises, and even dipped his toe into the world of reality TV.

In 2023, Sly was released - a documentary exploring Stallone’s upbringing and glittering career.

As well as featuring interviews from famous faces, including Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino, The Godfather’s Talia Shire, and former rival Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly sees the Over the Top star revealing where his ‘snarl’ originated from.

Sylvester Stallone opened up about his 'snarl' in his 2023 Netflix documentary (Netflix)

He began by claiming his mother, former wrestling promoter Jacqueline Stallone, insisted on ‘riding around on the bus’ despite being nine months pregnant.

“She [went] into labor,” he explained. “Somebody was smart enough to get her off the bus, they carried her into a charity ward.

“And that’s where I was brought into the world via this accident, which kind of paralyzed all the nerves on the side of my mouth. So I was born with this snarl.”

The titan also added that the paralysis was then brought on by an injury he suffered during delivery.

This is what gave Stallone a speech impediment, which reportedly made him vulnerable to the neighborhood bullies, who called him names like ‘Slant Mouth’ and ‘Sylvia’, according to the New York Post.

When he was 11, he moved in with his father, Frank Stallone Sr., who was also physically and emotionally abusive.

The icon was bullied by school kids because of his speech impediment, according to reports (Netflix)

"It's hard to navigate because you're going to catch it, especially when you're a bit rebellious like me. You're going to get a beating. After a while, you learn to just expect it," the Tulsa King actor told CBS Mornings.

Stallone revealed that the silver screen soon became his solace, admitting: “I worshiped escapism.”

The American, who received an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Best Actor nod for his role as Rocky Balboa, said that his speech impediment could have cost him his stardom.

“I didn't think I was going to [have a career in film]” he said during the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, as per Reuters.

"When I would try to get jobs in commercials, the director would go, 'What are you saying, what language is that?’

The actor has a ton of work coming up, including starring in the spin-off to Tulsa King (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

“I knew it was bad when Arnold Schwarzenegger said, 'You have an accent'," Stallone added.

"I go, 'I have an accent? Excuse me, what?' It's true. Arnold and I should open up a school for speech lessons. It would be perfect.”

Stallone, whose most recent film credits include Expend4bles, Armor, and Alarum, has a plethora of work lined up, including credits in Rowan Athale’s Little America, the sequel to the superhero film Samaritan, and The Epiphany, directed by William Eubank.

He is also set to play protagonist Nathaniel in James Byron Huggins’ Hunter, and will appear in Tulsa King spin-off, NOLA King.