Sylvester Stallone

 I'm too old for Homefront

Sylvester Stallone has revealed he passed the lead role in Homefront toJason Statham, because he felt too old for it.

Jason Statham takes the lead role in Homefront, after Sylvester Stallone decided he was too old to play it himself

The action star admitted he had himself in mind when he wrote the screenplay, but decided to offer it to his Expendables co-star instead.

"I had the story sitting around for a few years and I thought it was a really excellent script but I was going to do it time and again but thought I'd outgrown it. I mean, physically I was just too old to do it," said the 67-year-old.

"Jason has a lot more talent than he gives himself credit for and it's just he needed someone that knows him professionally, like I do, and knows that he can pull this off."

Actor-turned-filmmaker Sly teased that fans would see a different side to Jason.

"It's breaking ground - I know that when you do a series of action films, you're called upon to play the strong silent type and you're not supposed to be that emotional, it's just not that kind of character. And now he had to let it out and it's nerve-wracking, it's unchartered waters," he continued.

"It's very similar to when I did Cop Land and I was pretty much stereotyped as one sort of character and I was like, 'Let me just play in their backyard and we'll show you what we can do'. And it worked out nicely."

"This is the same thing, where you take Jason who's thought of as one kind of actor and you put him into a different element, surrounded by really great actors, and what you have is a unique blend of talent, energy and drama."

James Franco and Winona Ryder also star in Homefront, which is available on DVD and Blu-ray from March 31.