♪ MTV.♪
♪ ♪
-[doorbell rings] -JENNIFER: Oh, my God, that's your aunt. Let me answer it.
Hi. [laughs]
-Hello. -Hi, Aunt Annette.
-Fantastic. -So good to see you.
Oh, my God. Amazing.
-Hi. -Hi, honey.
You look fantastic.
ANNETTE: Well, thank you. 93 is not bad.
[laughs] You look amazing.
SYLVESTER: My dear Aunt Annette
is the last and longest-living
original Stallone.
My father's sister.
So she's carrying the torch.
-ANNETTE: Oh, so delicious. -JENNIFER: This is that, like,
has a little avocado, um, it's all healthy, too.
And I have more of everything, so if you...
Well, I'm not a big eater, sweetheart.
-Me, either. -Uh-huh?
The older I get, the less I eat.
Maybe it's a Stallone thing. I-I'm with you.
-It's a lie. Take that back. -It's the truth.
You are so... Okay, if-- let me ask you
-if this is a big eater. -Now she's gonna say
-I'm a swine, a hog. -For breakfast,
I make him an ice cream shake.
Bananas and protein powder.
-What? -I make him eggs with toast.
You had strudel cake and jelly with it.
He's definitely not starving.
-That's what I'm... [laughs] -I'm starving.
I brought you something, Sylvester.
-SYLVESTER: Uh-oh. -Now, you know who that is?
That is Frankie.
-No, that's Sylvester. -That's Sly?
-Wow, I thought that was your brother. -SYLVESTER: Yikes.
Jesus, what a weasel.
If you said this guy was gonna grow up to be Rocky
-and Rambo, you'd say, I want my money back. -ANNETTE: That's right.
-JENNIFER: Exactly. -ANNETTE: That-that's my father,
Sylvester the original.
SYLVESTER: That's attitude, right there. [laughs]
In the Italian culture,
the firstborn
usually is named after the grandfather.
And his name was Silvestro.
Do you know that Gioia, where we-- uh, was born,
it goes back nine generations.
-Oh. -But my father came to this country
-to have a better life. -Right.
SYLVESTER: My grandfather, I'm sure he was scared
of leaving a little barbershop
this big in Gioia del Colle in Italy.
And just stepping off a boat saying,
"I don't know one person, but I'm grateful to be here."
So don't forget the ancestors.
Now, that's a picture of Sylvester Stallone
in front of his barbershop.
-SYLVESTER: Did he always dress that well? -He always had
a-a cigarette holder.
SYLVESTER: Always.
ANNETTE: And he wore a-a homburg
and spets.
And he was known as the Mayor of Georgia Avenue.
-Oh, really? -JENNIFER: You know what would be great?
-ANNETTE: What, honey? -If we could take Frank,
the girls...
all of us go to Italy.
This is one of
his father's dreams, was for Sly and Frank
to go back to where he was born
and see the town that his grandfather
had a shop in and meet the family.
-ANNETTE: That's Frank. That's your father. -Yeah.
-That's my father. -JENNIFER: Oh.
But I know, for Sly, it's hard,
because, in all honesty, we didn't have
a lot of relationship with his mom or his dad
or the Italian side of his family.
-'Cause my father was tough. -But your father...
You don't want to mess with him.
-I know. -You know? You...
If you got him there, get away from him.
-Right. -Right around here, a rim
-around his mouth would tighten up... -Yeah, he would get...
...and it would get white a little, uh, boom.
Believe me, I've been on the receiving end of it.
It's horrible.
Let's just say I grew up in a very difficult household.
My family was never
kind of my safe spot, say.
That's why, truthfully, meeting the relatives,
it's not my number-one priority.
JENNIFER: I regret, 'cause my mom died
about a year ago,
and I don't have any more grandparents left.
My parents are both deceased.
So it's hard, because I want,
I want to know all these stories,
and you always think you have enough time.
I have to admit...
♪ ♪
...my wife is right.
If I don't do this, I'm going to regret it
for the rest of my life.
Sly, we must take this trip.
You know, they've been asking us to do that for years.
Maybe we should do it while I can still appreciate it.
-Done. See what you did? -[laughter]
It's amazing. I changed his diapers.
[laughs]
I said it.
SYLVESTER: Stop it.
I was born in jockey shorts.
♪ Talk to me, baby♪
♪ I'm going blind from this sweet, sweet craving, oh-oh♪
♪ Let's lose our minds and go crazy-crazy♪
♪ I-I-I-I-I♪
♪ ♪
♪ I-I-I-I-I.♪
♪ Here and now, I'm-a say it real loud♪
♪ It's a new day, another spin gone 'round♪
♪ Look around, we alive right now♪
♪ Stacking up big love till it's over...♪
Ah.
-Hi, Dad. -Hi.
Got a little surprise for you guys.
You're going to come with me.
-Two weeks in Italy. -[screams]
[whoops]
The Stallones are going to Rome, baby.
SOPHIA: Bottles of wine,
there's gonna be pasta for days.
♪ Carpe diem, make love, get the creum...♪
Ugh. Ciao bella.Let's go.
-Hello. -SYLVESTER: Hey, brother.
We're gonna pack our bags and head back to the fatherland.
I'm the only one that does speak Italian.
I went to Gioia del Colle, where my father was born,
in 1981.
And so, I can take them
on the tour, where it all started.
♪ Baby, keep on livin', love will change your life♪
♪ Open it up, feeling the love...♪
This is going to be such a special treat
because we're gonna take
all of his family
and get everyone together for this huge family reunion.
SOPHIA: I don't know how I feel about this.
[exhales]: Oh, God.
It is definitely going to be interesting to meet
a lot of blood relatives
that are strangers.
SYLVESTER: We have second, third and fourth cousins
we've never met.
They have children we've never met.
They have animals we've never met.
Start packing.
♪ Don't overthink it, keep it simple♪
♪ Spread love like a miracle...♪
-I'm so curious. -I know.
I'm a little nervous,
only because it just, it seems like a lot.
It's like, "Oh, you have a hundred new relatives."
It's like, "Whoa."
I've never really met any relatives
still in the same town over a hundred years.
So this is very exciting, and nerve-racking.
♪ ♪
SCARLET: Hey.
[laughs]
-[Louis grunts] -God...
-SOPHIA [over phone]: Hey. -LOUIS: Hey, sisters.
Louis, will you help Scarlet pack today?
-LOUIS: Pack me in your suitcase. -I'll be furious with you.
Meh, meh, meh.
I'm packing Louis. [laughs]
Okay, I love you. Thank you for your help.
SISTINE: If it was help, but yes.
-Bye. -Bye.
Ciao.
Are you gonna miss me?
-Not really. -Okay.
Okay, fuck off. Anyways, um...
Of course I'm gonna miss you.
I won't have my study partner anymore.
I'm not a study partner.
You're the one that's always tutoring me.
-Speaking of, I have math. -Do you need some help?
When do I not need help with math?
I'm honestly so ready to graduate.
You know, when, like, you have a place... and people thrive
when they're in, like, their best environment,
and I don't think Miami is my best environment.
Like, don't get me wrong, like, I love you,
and I love being with you,
but... I just don't want to...
Every time I'm in New York, I, like, don't want to leave,
I just want to stay there.
For the past month, I've been back in Miami.
I've been waking up every day just uncomfortable
and not wanting to be here.
And I really want to be in New York,
but that scares me for what
it would do to Louis and I's relationship.
Like, obviously, it's-- it hurts.
Like, of course I want to have you close-closer to me,
and, like, you know, we're living the same building now,
it's like...
SCARLET: I know, but, like, what...
I'm not gonna make the decision for you.
I-I know you're not, it's just... I don't...
You got to make the decision yourself.
I don't know what to feel. Like, I really don't.
If you want to go to New York because you think
that that's gonna help you later on,
or it's gonna boost your career in whatever way you-you think,
then, by all means.
We can't do long distance. That's the thing.
That's a weird thing to say before you've even tried it.
SCARLET: Louis's response every time is,
"Doesn't matter, as long as you're happy,"
and, ugh, that's too nice.
Like, make me... d-decide for me, something.
I don't know. He's not helping.
He just wants me to be happy.
You're leaving now for two weeks to Italy.
I think this is gonna be a good test
to see, like, how we deal with it.
I-I don't want to go on this trip
and then have doubtful thoughts the whole time,
'cause I don't know what you're thinking when I'm back.
It's stupid. That's like-- I don't...
-Like, I don't want to... -I think it's not, like, a test,
it's like a taster of, like, what it's, like, gonna be like.
♪ ♪
SYLVESTER: You call this "packed"?
I said 10:15.
Ten, one, five.
♪ ♪
JENNIFER: We haven't been on a vacation a long time,
-so this is very, very cool. -But this is beautiful.
-This is fantastic. -It's rural. Look at the sky
out here, no pollution, it's blue.
SYLVESTER: I think they overdid it
-with the olive trees. -JENNIFER: I told you,
y-you can't, you can't go a block without seeing
at least 20 on every block.
This is-- that's big business, man.
I've been trying to tell Sly to do this trip for--
oh, God-- decades. Decades.
That's why I think the whole trip's gonna be
very special, because we're coming in as a family.
La famiglia.
Where my grandfather Sylvester one day
put the key in his shop,
came to America.
SOPHIA: Oh, my God,
look at the water.
[gasps]
JENNIFER: Is this all
considered Bari, like, this whole area?
-This is Puglia. -This is Puglia.
FRANK: This is Puglia. So you got Bari...
-Uh-huh. -...and then you have Puglia.
-It's a suburb. -Yeah. Yeah, It's a-- yeah.
Italy is broken up into many of these areas.
One is Puglia, so if you're from there, they're called Pugliese.
A-And in Puglia, there's Bari.
And our family is from a smaller city called Gioia del Colle.
Uh, and each one is very, very unique.
I just want to know why you're wearing
-Dr. Stallone? When did you graduate med school? -'Cause it makes me...
No, I barely got out of high school.
-But it makes me look smart. -SLYVESTER: Are-are you on meds?
-JENNIFER: Come on. -People come up there don't know who I am,
and go, "So what are you a doctor of?"
"Love, baby."
I'm wearing scrubs 'cause they were absolutely
the most comfortable things I've ever worn in my life.
And, you know, girls love their doctors,
and I'll be whatever doctor they want.
"Well, I'm an OGB, or whatever they call it.
"O-B, fucking O-B, O-B Kenobi.
Whatever. Doctor."
-Oh, look it. -Oh, this... I think this is the lady.
-SYLVESTER: Are we here? All right. -Yeah.
♪ ♪
-FRANK: Buongiorno. -LUISA: Buongiorno.
LUISA: Welcome to Masseria San Domenico.
FRANK: Uh, mi chiamo Francesco Stallone.
-Uh, fratelloSilvestro. -Hi.
-Welcome to Masseria San Domenico. -Thank you.
In case you need a brain surgeon, we brought one.
[laughs]: Okay.
-Do you speak a little English? -Yes.
-Frank speaks a little Italian. -Okay.
The only person that speaks Italian in our family is Frank.
But that doesn't mean he speaks it well.
That's at least one thing I have over some of them in the family.
I might not be as rich, but I can speak bad Italian.
♪ ♪
This masseriais, uh, a very, very ancient building.
JENNIFER: Wonderful.
LUISA: It was built six century ago
to defend the coast of Apulia.
Now convert in resort. Five stars.
Wow.
I love Italy 'cause I love the architecture.
I love the feeling of these old homes.
So to be able to stay in it is such a treat for our family.
How-- What year was this? 1700s?
Uh, the...
the construction is the 15th century.
-15th century. -[speaks Italian]
-What? -Yeah, 15th century. -[overlapping chatter]
JENNIFER: Oh, my God.
-Look at this, you guys. -Yikes. Very nice. Wow.
-You guys... -Beautiful.
-This is a little home. -It's very nice.
You know, it's very cool in here.
This is very nice.
[shrieks]
-Oh, my gosh. -Wow!
Oh, my God!
This is swanky.
This place is the Italian dream.
I cannot believe we are staying here.
It feels like an old castle.
I feel like royalty.
Italia, we have arrived to meet our familia.
♪ ♪
Oh, my God. This is amazing.
This is the focaccia barese
-with the tomato on top. -[gasps] Thank you.
-Fantastic. -JENNIFER: Thank you.
So...
are you guys looking forward to meeting all the relatives,
all the cousins, all the aunts and uncles?
-Yeah, I mean, it will be interesting, for sure. -SOPHIA: Yeah.
Dad has never mentioned anything.
We just know a little bit about his mom
and a little bit about his dad.
Out of my entire family, Sly is definitely the most guarded.
He's wearing a shield of armor at all times.
I just think it's because Sly and Frank had
a really difficult upbringing,
and they didn't have a secure home.
He sort of built up this wall over the years
to protect his personal life,
and that wall included around our family, so...
Your grandma Jackie came into your bedroom once,
Sistine, when you were in your crib,
you were probably, like, two or three years old,
and you were screaming your head off.
You jumped out of your crib, ran down your, the hallway
and hid in your playhouse.
-You wouldn't come out. -Well, that's not my fault.
That was your introduction to your grandma.
She's not, she's not the world's most warm woman in the world.
[chuckles] Not at all. Actually. The opposite.
I'm not super excited to meet the relatives because
I went 21 years without knowing that I even had relatives,
and then all of a sudden, I have family. Like...
I think Dad's gonna be overwhelmed
because everyone's gonna go crazy when they see him,
and, uh, that's gonna be interesting to see.
Are you guys, like, nervous about the language barrier?
-I-I feel like that-- -SISTINE: That's gonna be weird.
-That's gonna be funny. -Oh, gosh.
We are-- It's gonna be funny.
Well, what's funny is that Frank is so into,
like, trying to speak Italian, and he's so bad.
I'm gonna be on Google Translate the whole time.
-Cheers to that. [chuckling] -[cheers]
♪ ♪
JENNIFER: Here, Sly. I have a glass of wine for you.
Sly, you got the best wife. Look at this. Thank you, honey.
You're welcome. Let's have a toast.
'Cause this is gonna be-- This is a big night.
This is monumental.
-It is. -We are gonna see relatives
that we've never seen before.
-SYLVESTER: 50 years in the making. -Yeah.
But are these all real relatives? Are--
FRANK: These are-- Absolutely.
They are all the product of my Aunt Tatina,
'cause she had a lot of kids, and her kids had a lot of kids,
and they had a lot of kids and a lot of kids.
My brother is very family-oriented.
He has pictures.
Must be going back to the Civil War or something.
Of all our relatives, he's just consumed
with family and history,
so he's ready for anything.
It must be a little nerve-racking, though.
SYLVESTER: A little bit,
'cause you don't want to mess up.
And then again, I don't know anyone.
Sometimes you feel like...
like everyone is expecting, like, the movie star Sly,
-you know? -FRANK: Well, they are,
-but the thing is-- -A man on a trapeze.
-No, they are, just... -JENNIFER: Yeah, right. Exactly.
Don't you feel like the expectation gets
-a little nerve-racking? -FRANK: I think they're expecting a movie star,
but also, he's their relative.
And for 50 years, he's been a major movie star
and they're singing "Gioia del Colle."
They've watched every movie
with his head 50 feet in the screen,
and now he's come back to where it all started.
You guys are making it even worse.
I've never really told my family much about my family in Italy
because I really don't know that much.
And I do have anxieties
about meeting the relatives.
I had an ambiguous feeling because they don't know me,
I don't know them.
And I go, "Do I really want to open myself up to these people?"
And I go, hmm...
It's very anxious.
JENNIFER: Are you all ready
-or should we just finish? -Showtime.
-JENNIFER: Do you guys want to finish? -FRANK: No.
-JENNIFER: Our wine? -No, I'm good.
FRANK: I don't want to be ripped
-when I come in there. -Why not?
"I'm your cousin." "Yeah? So what?"
I think you should be a little bit, Sly.
No. You know, I slur enough.
-[mumbling] -There you go.
He really is punchy. [snorts]
He really is tuned-up.
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
Cheers to...
-to... -...cousins.
Extending our little family.
-Oh. -Yeah.
Oh, God, I hope this is good.
[spits] That tastes like ass.
Oh, that's horrible.
♪ ♪
It's pitch-black out here.
Are we gonna be in the pitch-black?
We won't see any of your relatives.
If somebody has to go to the bathroom out here, good luck.
This is gonna be a fucking gas.
[line ringing]
[squeals]
LOUIS [over phone]: Hey, guys.
-Hi, Louis. -SOPHIA: Hi.
-How are we? -We're about to, um, see
the extended cousins right now.
-Are you, are you having dinner with them? -Yeah.
-We'll let you know how it goes. -I'm a little nervous.
I'll send you my location, too, while we're at it.
[Louis chuckles]
Can you send me your location?
[gasps] Scarlet.
SCARLET: The only reason why--
-I don't remember the reason why I asked-- -I don't want your location.
-I trust us. -SISTINE: Aw.
Oh, I didn't ask for your location in the wrong reason.
Yes, you did.
-[Sophia and Sistine oohing] -SCARLET: When?
-[Louis continues indistinctly] -What, what, what?
♪ ♪
Turn off your location. And have fun in Miami.
All right.
SCARLET: Since our brief conversation in Miami,
things just feel off between Louis and I.
I was really hoping he'd say we would end up
in the same place, but he didn't.
I hate being on bad terms, especially with him.
And now I'm scared I've pushed him away.
It just sucks so bad.
-I know. -SCARLETT: You have no idea.
SISTINE: Dad looks like he's freaking out.
SCARLET: Oh, my God. It's so pretty.
Wait, is that a mariachi band?
SYLVESTER: Here we go.
SISTINE: This is like a Stallone Festival.
JENNIFER: I know.
Hey.
SYLVESTER: Hello, how are you?
-Ciao. Hello, how are you? -Alessandra.
-Hey. -Thank you.
[overlapping chatter]
Hello. Thank you.
Watching my dad, I can tell that he is a little overwhelmed.
It's a lot of people all at once,
but he's not uncomfortable.
Where's my interpreter when I need him?
Hello.
Oh, Jennifer... [speaks Italian]
-This is the baby, Scarlet. -Hi.
Is she the youngest?
We walk up and see about 50 Stallones.
-Sistine? -Sistine. -JENNIFER: This is Sistine.
SISTINE: And there's so much love. And they're kissing us,
and they're hugging us,
and they're all over each other. This is way beyond
what I ever had imagined for a family reunion to be.
-You're doing good? -Yeah. Great.
You like to come to Italy?
-Yeah. -Yeah?
It only took me 50 years.
Ah. Cenzo.
SYLVESTER: Yeah.
Yeah. Give me back my face.
This is the most beautiful table.
-SYLVESTER: It's amazing. -Right? It's so pretty.
So this is all your blood relatives.
SISTINE: You guys, tell me everything about
Italian superstitions. I want to know.
'Cause I saw three black cats yesterday cross me.
-RAOUL: Spill the salt backwards. -SISTINE: Should I do that?
RAOUL: A little bit. Yeah.
SISTINE: I heard this one.
If you cheer someone and you don't make eye contact,
that's seven years bad sex.
I mean, that's up to you.
Ha! Yes.
SISTINE: Even though
I was skeptical at first,
I'm pleasantly surprised with how much
we are getting along with our cousins right now.
And they all look like me. They all have brown eyes.
My mom's side of the family? Blue, green eyes, tall, blonde.
I'm, like, this is my people. [laughs]
I mean, except the fake blonde.
But other than that, these are my people.
We have a little gift from Puglia.
For you and Frank.
It's a good luck charms.
-That's Italian Oscar. -Wow.
-That's bigger than the Oscar. -This is better than the Oscar.
Yes. Thank you.
And it's a blossom of a rose. A kind of rose.
Do you know that our three daughters names are Rose?
-Oh, I love that. -Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose...
and it's a rose.
I am so pleasantly surprised that there's so much warmth.
These people who never have met me,
I feel as though they've embraced us, and my daughters.
Everybody was just so warm and so kind.
The nerves completely melted, and I felt like I was at home.
WOMAN: So this brings luck.
Honestly, I'm gonna take it. I'm so sorry.
I need, I need all the luck.
You should steal Frank's one.
-He needs, he needs it. -[Vittoria laughs]
And I realized, truthfully, I never really needed
to be protective or to have anxiety.
These people were there to just welcome us.
F-Fantastic.
Let's get this party going.
-♪ ♪ -[woman speaks Italian]
WOMAN: Go dance, go dance.
[all exclaiming]
JENNIFER: So much fun to see Sly dance
because I haven't seen him dance like that forever.
-[laughs] -FRANK: He's dancing the exact same way
he did in 1976,
like we'd hit Studio 54.
I come in there and I'm, like...
And... [chuckles] Oh, my God.
What a way to kick off this epic family vacation.
-SYLVESTER: Whoa. -[whooping]
♪ ♪
-SOPHIA: Oh, my God. -SCARLET: There's so many people.
It is a full-on fan frenzy for Sly right now.
I love you and keep punching.
-How you doin'? -Peace.
Can Louis please answer?
I wish I could share these experiences
with Louis,
but I can't reach him.
He hasn't been texting me,
calling me... He's not himself.
♪ Come on now, roll with the crazy♪
♪ Dance like 1980♪
♪ Ooh, ooh♪
♪ Roll with the crazy♪
♪ Dance like 1980♪
♪ ♪
♪ Roll with me, baby♪
♪ You ain't gonna save me♪
♪ Ooh, ooh.♪
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org