In an interview with Time magazine, Sylvester Stallone has admitted to taking human growth hormone (HGH) as part of the regimen that made it possible for him to once again play the mush-mouthed super-warrior John Rambo for a fourth time. Actually, "admitted" doesn't really capture the tone of Sly's remarks. The 61-year-old "actor", who has to do something to kill time for the next three and a half years while waiting for his big chance to be profiled in cover stories for the AARP magazine, balks at the notion that taking HGH is comparable to taking steroids, says that "Testosterone to me is so important for a sense of well-being when you get older," and offers this unsolicited testimonial: "Everyone over 40 years old would be wise to investigate it because it increases the quality of your life. Mark my words. In 10 years it will be over the counter." (It goes without saying that Stallone is something of an authority on the future, having starred in both Demolition Man and Death Race 2000.)

Stallone's dependence on HGH isn't exactly news: a year ago, while he was touring to promote his previous exercise in career necrophilia, Rocky Balboa, he was arrested after Australian customs officials found forty-eight vials of Jintropin in his luggage. (It has been reported that when Stallone was asked why he was traveling with HGH in his suitcase, he answered, with a sideways nod to his shooting schedule, "Where do you think I am going to get this stuff in Burma?") Incidentally, Rambo, which opened last Friday and was widely expected to dominate the box office in its first week, ended up coming in second — behind Meet the Spartans. One can only hope that Stallone doesn't decide take that as a sign that he didn't juice up enough for his latest comeback. If he ups his dosage enough, he might inflate and wind up floating off into the ozone like Yaphet Kotto at the end of Live and Let Die. Actually, now that you mention it...