Stuart Scott: Did you do Driven because you love speed?

Sylvester Stallone: No. I never cared for motorsports. It's always about the car, the engine, the aerodynamics. What about the man in the helmet? What's going on inside his head?

SS: It's the only sport in which there's a very real possibility you might not survive competition.

SLY: Hemingway said there are only three sports: mountain climbing, bullfighting and racing. Drivers go day to day never knowing when it's going to be over, so they tend to be intense loners and introverts. Their focus is mono, not stereo. I've seen Michael Schumacher win the Italian Grand Prix, then stop at a go-kart track on the way home.

SS: Really? Just to drive?

SLY: Really. They're a different breed.

SS: Was getting behind the wheel a little too real?

SLY: Yes. Your head's 24 inches off the ground, big wheels churning right next to your face. And you're belted in. There's no sense of freedom. There's no "I'm gonna open this door and get out."

SS: How does 200 mph feel?

SLY: Like driving through a Renoir painting -- completely impressionistic. But you're so focused, you could see a dime on the track.

SS: What is it about sports that keeps drawing you in?

SLY: It's the last frontier for men to test their mettle. Something in us cries out to define our courage.

SS: Please explain that to my wife. She doesn't understand why, at 35 years old, I'd still try out for the Redskins.

SLY: Women compete for different reasons. For men, it's a warfare thing. But today, more people define themselves through violence because they've got nothing else. "Am I man enough to take these guys out?" It's a sick premise.

SS: Will there ever be a Rocky VI?

SLY: We've discussed it. But I didn't like Rocky V. We don't want to see the demise of our heroes. I don't want to see Charlie Chaplin's dark side. Or Elvis gaining weight.

SS: Or Rocky down in the dumps.

SLY: People ask me all the time, "When do action guys move on?" We never move on.

This article appears in the April 30 issue of ESPN The Magazine.