Dec 17 2008
Mickey Rourke Creates Oscar Buzz For Role In ‘The Wrestler’
Mickey Rourke (right) in ‘The Wrestler’
The celebrity world is buzzing about the role Mickey Rourke plays in his latest film, ‘The Wrestler’. Critics seem to agree that this is his best work to date, in a career that has spanned close to 30 years. There is even early “oscar” talk, for a role that hits Rourke pretty close to home.
Mickey Rourke is has made a career out of playing dark, anti-hero social misfits, and his role in the indie film, ‘The Wrestler’, is no different. What is different is the depth that Roarke brings to the role of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a character who’s life seems to have been lived much like the actor who plays him. So close, in fact, that there are rumors that he hesitated on taking the role because of the similarities.
In ‘The Wrestler’, Rourke plays an aging grappler who has to work a day job in a deli just to make ends meet. He is not one of the bigger-than-life characters who struts in front of huge audiences on pay-per-view television. Rourke’s wrestler plays much smaller venues, for pay days that wouldn’t even cover his medical bills.
Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s body is aged and beat up. Nearing 50, he wears a hearing aid and needs reading glasses, but he refuses to give up his penchant for loud, heavy metal music and the sport that he loves. He is certainly not unaware of his frailties, but he dismisses them as a part of his course in life. He’s had regrets, but it’s been what it’s been.
If art really does imitate life, then Rourke would be the poster boy for celebrity misfits in the entertainment industry. From his earliest small roles in such films as ‘Heavens Gate’ and ‘Body Heat’, no one has ever questioned his talent. And after starring as Charlie in 1984’s ‘The Pope of Greenwich Village’ , a film which as achieved “cult movie” status, Rourke became one of the most in-demand actors of his generation.
In 1986, he played opposite Kim Bassinger in “9 1/2 Weeks”. The film was ground breaking in setting new standards for sexual content, and turned Mickey Rourke into an immediate sex symbol.
But, it has been his choice of taking gloomier roles in dark, off-the-mainstream films that has set the tone of his career. Films such as ‘Angel Heart’, ‘Barfly’ and ‘Wild Orchid’ were all critically successful, but gave Rourke the reputation for choosing roles in films that were on the fringes.
Also, he never seemed to care what Hollywood or the media thought of him. In 1991, he took a short sabbatical from acting to return to boxing, a childhood passion. He boxed professionally for four years, but admits that he may have been past his prime. “I just wanted to give it a shot, test myself physically, before it was too late,” he said. He retired in from boxing 1995 and returned to acting. Since then, he’s been a consistent figure on movie screens.
‘The Wrestler’ opens Wednesday in select theaters.
