The Lords of Flatbush is easy to remember for its leather jackets, Brooklyn greasers, and coming-of-age story set in 1958. For Sylvester Stallone, though, the 1974 film carries another unforgettable association: Richard Gere. Stallone recently recalled how tensions between them became so explosive that he nearly "knocked his teeth out" before Gere eventually exited the project.

It seems like Sylvester Stallone is finally ready to spill the details of the rivalry that took place behind the charismatic scenes of The Lords of Flatbush.

The tension between Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere began long before either actor became a Hollywood name. Writing in his memoir, The Steps, Stallone recalled that while rehearsing for The Lords of Flatbush, he grew furious when Gere grabbed his T-shirt during an improvised scene, with his fingernails digging into his skin.

When director Stephen Verona asked how he would react in real life, Stallone had a blunt answer.

“‘Do? I’d knock his teeth out,’” he recalled.

The hostility did not end with rehearsals. During a lunch break, Gere spilled chicken grease onto Stallone’s leg inside their parked car, prompting Stallone to elbow him, pull him out of the back seat, and nearly turn the disagreement into a physical fight. Verona intervened, and the production reached a breaking point.

Yet the clash never became the headline-making Hollywood feud it might have been today. In 1974, Stallone and Gere were still nobodies in the industry, years away from the films that would make them famous. Stallone had not yet written or starred in Rocky, while Gere’s breakthrough roles in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Days of Heaven were still ahead.

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Sylvester Stallone may have traded punches while filming Rocky, but his long-running bad blood with Richard Gere was in a league of its own, with Princess Diana even entering the picture.

The bad blood between Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere apparently had a second act, and Princess Diana was unexpectedly part of the drama. According to Elton John’s memoir, the actors nearly came to blows at a dinner party in the 1990s after Stallone grew jealous of the attention Princess Diana was giving Gere. The confrontation, however, remained a closely guarded Hollywood secret for years.

Stallone has now revisited their troubled history in his memoir, The Steps, claiming that Gere has seriously disliked him since his departure from The Lords of Flatbush in 1974. The Rocky star also recalled Gere blaming him for malicious rumors that damaged his reputation, while Gere has suggested that keeping their distance is better for both men.

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