Mickey Rourke and His Comeback in the Movie, the Wrestler

Mickey Rourke’s latest film The Wrestler was the hardest and easiest movie Mickey has ever made. Why? Because he is a method actor and has drawn from his own life experiences to do this movie which is almost similar to his struggles in life and can’t watch the movie anymore due to a certain one particular scene where he doesn’t know where the line between the character he plays, The Ram, begins and where himself ends. He trained with an Israeli cage fighter for three months and even slashed a razor across his forehead in a scene to get the crowd in the film all revved up. He also injured his elbow and knee, tore a ligament in his shoulder and had 3 MRI scans. Was it all worth it?

Who could forget the steamy movie he did with Kim Bassinger in 9 ½ weeks in 1986 that put him in the sexiest man category which for most people would be a compliment but he wanted to be known for his acting not known for his looks so after a couple of films including the movie Wild Orchid where he met his wife ( now ex-wife ) Carre Otis he didn’t want to be known as a heart throb and due to his over spending made him take any movie that came his way just to pay for his wild spending and equally wild living of drugs and alcohol he had enough of the business and turned to boxing. His wild living contributed to his divorce to Carre Otis after six years of a turbulent marriage including Mickey being arrested for spousal assault in 1994, which were later dropped. One of the many mistakes he was to make was unconsciously choosing to became a boxer and as he didn’t want to be seen as a heart throb boxing saw to that by doing a number on his face including, multiple breaks to the nose, hands and a shattered cheekbone which contributed to the once handsome actors face looking now quite haggard. He has rumoured to have had plastic surgery but personally I believe him when he says he hasn’t had plastic surgery as being in the boxing ring for so many years and his hard living combined with his substance abuse and the fact that he is twenty years older now would make anybody unrecognisable.

As a boxer Rourke won eight professional fights and was apparently three fights away from a world title fight when he failed his neurological test, he was suffering from short-term memory losses and an equilibrium problem. So after 4 years in the ring he had to hang up his gloves and in 1995 returned to acting and took any job he could get and admits he acted in terrible roles and films again, whoever wanted him. Mickey Rourke knew how to make money but spent it faster then it came in. Things were so bad for him that when the film Sin City came his way it couldn’t come at a better time because he was relying on friends to get by including one friend who gave him $200 a week just so he could eat.

It has taken 20 years for Mickey Rourke to get back to the real acting that made him famous like the movie Body Heat. He has taken classes to deal with his anger problem and has found out it stems partly due to the physical abuse at the hands of his father until he was 6 which only stopped after his father left the house one day and never came back. Also the terrible way he used to speak to people on the sets of movie and his terrible attitude are no more due to his years of counselling.

So was it all worth it? Well Mickey Rourke must be back, as his acting skill in the movie, The Wrestler may win him an Oscar. So it is worth it to him!