Sylvester Stallone has reminisced about the intriguing tale of his first encounter with his late co-star Carl Weathers on the set of Rocky.

During the conversation with Jimmy Fallon on Friday show, the Rambo star recounted the audition moment and shared insights on how the Predator star secured the role of Apollo Creed in the hit film series.

Stallone, 77, expressed his shock at Weather’s death and praised his remarkable talent as he called magnificent.

“Rocky was a compilation of really great actors, almost born to play those parts,” Stallone said.

He added, “I couldn’t fill that spot [for Apollo Creed] because it required incredible athleticism, brains, spirit, talent, speed. [Weathers] had it all. I mean, he had it all.”

Stallone recalled Weathers arrived at the audition “bad mood” which he consider an advantageous as the Action Jackson star would be portraying the role of Rocky Balboa’s boxing rival.

The Expandables star shared his reaction when Weather wore off his shirt for audition, “Oh, my God, am I trouble, because I kind of looked like Pooh Bear at the time, I did, and he looked like Adonis. He banged about three shots off of my forehead and I went, ‘Hired!’”

“I loved him. I couldn’t have done it without him,” Stallone concluded.

Read also: Carl Weathers, ‘Rocky’ star’s cause of death revealed

Earlier in 2015 Weathers also shared with The Hollywood Reporter about his audition for the Rocky franchise.

“There was nobody to read with, and they said, 'You’re going to read with the writer [Stallone],' " Weathers told the outlet.

He went on to say, “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.‘”

Weathers added, “I just insulted the star of the movie without really knowing it and not intending to. Sometimes the mistakes are the ones that get you the gig.”

It is pertinent to mention that Carl Weather portrayed the role of Apollo Creed in Rocky and he repeated his character in Rocky II in 1979, Rocky III in 1982 and Rocky IV in 1985.

He passed away on February 1, 2024, at the age of 76, and on his death certificate, the cause of death stated, "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”