The Interview: Mike Kunda (or you can call him Rocky)
WHEN YOU'RE from Philly, it's easy to assume Rocky's just a Philly thing. Impersonator and Rocky-land tour guide Mike Kunda knows different.
WHEN YOU'RE from Philly, it's easy to assume Rocky's just a Philly thing. Impersonator and Rocky-land tour guide Mike Kunda knows different.
The Balboa look-alike grew up in Scranton, lives in Camp Hill, and has spent the last 10 years amid Rocky folks - including Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, and Burt Young, but also a Canadian kid Rocky prodigy, a Pakistani super-fan, a grieving Irish family, and a Russian guy whose English consisted solely of Stallone movie quotes.
Kunda says his Rocky tour-takers come to Philly expressly to experience the place where the movie magic happened. They come, he said, to feel that sensation of "believing in yourself, fighting through the challenges, not giving in, persevering. Having heart."
On the cusp of Rocky's 40th anniversary - the Oscar-winning film debuted Nov. 21, 1976 - the reverent, uncanny doppelganger spoke with Lauren McCutcheon about his lifelong obsession, the "Rocky philosophy," and how that scene with the turtles still gets him every time.
Rocky turns 40 next month. What does that make you?
I'm 48. I'm a Rocky geek in my heart. That's me.
How did this whole thing start?
Growing up, we couldn't afford a VCR, so I voice-recorded Rocky from the TV. I would listen to it in my bedroom. When I was 13, I got a Sony Walkman, and I would walk up and down the street at night like Rocky, crooked lip and all.
I dressed like Rocky at school. That made me a target for beatings. But I figured if Rocky could get in a fight, then I could get in a fight. If Rocky could lose, I could lose. I wasn't an angry kid, though. You couldn't knock the smile off my face.
And now you play Rocky while showing off Rocky sites?
My van has the Rocky tour logo. It fits up to seven. My tour takes three, three-and-a-half hours, depending on traffic.
We hit the core, everywhere you would think: Rocky's apartment at 1818 Tusculum St., off Kensington Avenue. Around the corner to East Gurney, where Gazzo berates Rocky by the train tracks, and says "Why didn't you break this guy's thumb?" Pennsylvania Hospital. Father Carmine's window at Saint Thomas Aquinas in South Philly from Rocky II. We end at the Rocky steps.
Any great tour stories?
There was this kid from Ontario. When he was 8, he got cancer. During chemo, he would watch Rocky and Rocky II. His mom would tell him, "When you make it through this, we can go anywhere in the world." He wanted to go to see where Rocky's from.
The mother googles. I pop up. When he's well enough, when he's 10, they come on my tour. He sits in the front seat. That kid was an encyclopedia of Rocky.
You also do appearances.
Conventions, conferences, events. I probably have 30, 40 seconds with people. I hit them hard as I can with my best Rocky impression. A lot of times, they'll call their wives or girlfriends or husbands or their kids, and video chat with me.
I feel a little silly at first, but they're really having fun, so I embrace it. I always feel like I'm an ambassador to Philly.
Most frequently asked question?
"Do you know Stallone?" And, "What is he like?"
Answer?
I have met him about a dozen times. Got to see him film at the Victor Cafe. He went out of his way to be gracious and kind and generous to me.
Hardest thing about your job?
The drive. It's an hour and 45, two hours to get here, and then I drive for 8 hours, then drive home. On the ride usually I play the Rocky sound track. I get a little emotional on the ride home.
Best thing about your job?
I get to be a little window into peoples' lives. For three hours, I get to see something private. It's all I ever wanted to do for people.
In a world that can be so morally bankrupt sometimes, a character like Rocky, he was a broken, third-rate fighter ... If you could boil down what Rocky means, you may start out trying to be the best in the world, then you realize you're not quite as equipped as you'd like to be, and whatever happens after that happens.
Rocky birthday wish?
I just wish the city would embrace Rocky a little more. Would like to see Rocky day, one day a year. And maybe theaters re-showing the original Rocky a little more often.
I'm worried about the Philadelphia Museum of Art's plans for remaking the Rocky steps. They're not just a set of steps leading to a museum.
[Editor's note: The current "core" update involves changes to the inside of the museum only, a spokesman said. A window within the existing steps is one of several design options for a later stage of the work. None of the other options would affect the Rocky Steps.]
I'm also dying to be stumped by a Rocky question. Hasn't happened yet.
Favorite Rocky movie?
Rocky One. It has so much heart. When he's talking to the turtles and he shows that affection to the dog. That's it.