The First Actor To Play Rambo Onscreen (Not Sylvester Stallone)

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Rambo is one of Sylvester Stallone's most popular characters, but he wasn't the first actor to play John Rambo onscreen. Rambo first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood, with the Vietnam veteran launching a personal war on a small town. Author David Morrell's book was both an intense, fast-paced thriller and an anti-war novel. The book's depiction of John Rambo is also much darker than the eventual movie, with the character having no issue with killing his pursuers; in the book's closing chapters, he's also executed by his former mentor.

Several actors almost played Rambo in First Blood before Stallone, including Al Pacino and Steve McQueen. Stallone was famously so appalled by the movie's original, 3-hour cut that he offered to buy back the negative so he could destroy it. He later suggested cutting the film way back, including trimming Rambo's dialogue whenever necessary. The movie was a hit and launched Stallone on a new phase of his career. He became an action hero during this era, which is best exemplified by the Rambo sequels and Cobra.

Related: Why Rambo's Creator Hated Last Blood

In 2019, Stallone seemingly left the character behind with Rambo: Last Blood, the fifth entry. Despite these claims, he's also revealed his concept for a potential Rambo 6. Stallone is so ingrained in audiences' minds as John Rambo it's hard to picture any other actor in the part, though it feels inevitable the franchise will be rebooted at some point. Stallone wasn't actually the first actor to play John Rambo, however, with Cuban-Italian actor Tomas Milian first bringing the character to screens with 1975's Syndicate Sadists (AKA Rambo's Revenge).

For context, Tomas Milian read Morrell's First Blood novel in the early '70s and was