Sylvester Stallone Emerges as the Underdog Favorite to Win Oscar

Forget Leonardo DiCaprio's big push to finally win an Oscar -- it appears everyone's favorite story this awards season is 69-year-old Sylvester Stallone.

The action star is nominated for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for reprising his beloved character, boxer Rocky Balboa, in Creed, marking his third Oscar nomination in his longstanding career. Stallone was nominated in 1977 for Best Actor and Best Screenplay for Rocky, and despite the film winning Best Picture, he didn't take home an Oscar for himself.

"I am incredibly humbled by this honor," Stallone said in a statement to ET on Thursday morning about his Oscar nomination. "I was not expecting it ... especially at this time in my life. I am certainly grateful to the artists and collaborators who helped make it possible."

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Stallone notably got a big cheer as his name was announced during the live presentation of the nominees on Thursday morning, another sign that plenty of people are pulling for the star to taste Oscar gold for the first time this year. Stallone also got a standing ovation at the Golden Globes last Sunday when he picked up the award for Best Supporting Actor.

And no one can deny that the Rambo star has certainly had a long, vibrant career in Hollywood. He both wrote and starred in the first five Rocky films in the insanely popular franchise, and also directed Rocky II, Rocky III, and Rocky IV. He experienced a career resurgence in 2010 with The Expendables, which he also wrote, directed, and starred in. The surprise hit spawned another two sequels, The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3.

"Last time I was here, that was 1977," Stallone said during his Golden Globes speech. "It was a long time ago. It's like a different, different situation and the view is so beautiful now."

He also thanked the iconic character that started it all.

"Most of all, I want to thank my imaginary friend Rocky Balboa for being the best friend I ever had," Stallone concluded.

After his big Golden Globes win, Stallone was criticized by some for forgetting to thank Creed director Ryan Coogler and his co-star, Michael B. Jordan, but he later tweeted that he owed them "everything."

And Jordan later showed he had no hard feelings, retweeting a tweet that said Stallone actually came back out during commercial break and thanked Creed cast and crew.

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ET talked to Stallone backstage at the Golden Globes, when he admitted he has conversations with his most well-known character.

"When you do a great deal of writing, there's a point where you say, 'How you doin', Rocky?'" he smiled. "It's very odd what triggers a moment. It really is."

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