The Wrestler

• Mickey Rourke interview: Year of the ram

  Published on: February 10, 2009

  Scotland on Sunday has posted an interview with the wrestler himself, Mickey Rourke. Rourke talks about fading into the background and being out of work and out of hollywood for sometime. Is now more than 25 years since Rourke became a star with Body Heat, Rumble Fish, Diner and Nine 1/2 Weeks, and fewer than 15 since he became a joke with Wild Orchid and Francesco. Rourke shares that "Randy The Ram was somebody 20 years ago, and so was Mickey Rourke. When you used to be somebody and you aren't anybody any more, you live in what my doctor calls a state of shame. You don't want to go out of the house. You hate just going to the store and having to stand in line, because inevitably someone will stare at you and say: 'Hey, didn't you used to be someone in the movies?'" He also talks about shooting with director Darren Aronofsky, quitting boxing and what's next. 'The Wrestler is out in theaters now'.

  "...I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thinking – look at what happened to you. I had blown everything, you know? I lost my credibility, my marriage, my money, my soul. I said to myself, you've got to change. And I realised that the acting was the only thing I had left..."

  Read the full interview here.

  

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• Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei are Academy Award nominees for The Wrestler

  Published on: January 22, 2009

  Mickey Rourke has been nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role by the Academy Awards for his performance in The Wrestler. Marisa Tomei has also scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards were announced today by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar® winner Forest Whitaker.

  Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

  Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and San Francisco.

  Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

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• Interview: ‘The Wrestler’ Director Darren Aronofsky on Mickey Rourke’s Comeback

  Published on: January 20, 2009

  Hollywood Chicago has interviewed 'The Wrestler' director Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky shares part of the reason in making 'The Wrestler', to shine light on 'the forgotten talent of Mickey Rourke', and also credits Marisa Tomei for her 'brave and bold' performance. He also jokes about the connection between wrestling and stripping, and the major connection betweek Rourke and his character. 'The Wrestler' is out in theaters now.

  "...It came out of the observation that there are so many boxing movies made it’s almost its own genre, but few have done wrestling pictures...I realized it was an actual sport, but more based in performance. I found that line between real and fake very intriguing...”

  Read the full interview here.

  

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