‘Samaritan’s Javon Walton & Dascha Polanco Rave Over ‘Generous’ & Wise’ Co-star Sly Stallone
‘Samaritan’ stars Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton and Dascha Polanco spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HL about working with the legendary Sly Stallone, a possible sequel, and more.
Samaritan isn’t your run-of-the-mill superhero film. Sylvester Stallone stars in the Prime Video film that follows a 13-year-old who suspects his mysterious neighbor is a legend hiding in plain sight. This neighbor, played by Stallone, used to be Granite City’s super-powered vigilante Samaritan, but he’s been presumed dead for years. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Javon “Wanna” Walton and Dascha Polanco about starring alongside the Rocky icon.
“Working with Sly was a lot of fun though, man. It was really cool to be able to talk boxing with him like every single day on set,” Javon told HollywoodLife. “I absolutely loved that part. But to be part of an action movie with Sly for my very first feature film is something else for sure. He is just an amazing actor, and I got to learn a lot from him, which I love. He taught me a lot. He’s a super smart, super wise guy. We had a lot of amazing scenes.”
Dascha admitted that getting to co-star alongside Stallone is a full-circle moment for her. “It’s like, how do you watch this person on film, and then you become an actress? And then you’re working with him? It’s always a moment for you to [be] like, is this really happening? But I must say that Stallone is a very wise and smart man, like Wanna said, but he’s a generous actor. He’s a respectful actor. You can learn so much from him. He’s very grounded, and I felt like he brought that to the set, creating a space for all of us to kind of just cohesively work together. And you need that.”
Related Gallery
Sylvester Stallone Through The Years: Photos Of The 'Rocky' Icon In Honor Of His 76th Birthday
She continued, “I think that through what everything this film was going through in the midst of what the world was going through, it’s ironic that in this film, there was something going on in this world, in this community, and we got through it. I love the message, the underlying message, the different approach, there are layers to this. It’s not your usual superhero movie. There’s something for everyone in it. We could all relate to it.”
Stallone knows a thing or two about boxing after inhabiting the role of Rocky Balboa for decades. Javon is a rising boxing star of his own. While they didn’t give each other boxing pointers, the 16-year-old noted that Stallone’s “got hands. He can throw a little bit, man. It was cool seeing that.”
When it comes to superhero movies, there’s always talk about sequels. The Euphoria alum is more than down for another Samaritan movie. “Oh, I hope so. That’d be amazing. A sequel? Do it. When’s the contract coming?” Javon quipped. Samaritan will be available to stream on August 26, exclusively on Prime Video.