Mickey Rourke didn't have a good time shooting 'The Wrestler'.
The 2008 film was a big step forward for the world of wrestling in Hollywood, helping change the public perception of the sport. In turn, this allowed more wrestlers like John Cena and Dave Bautista to take on careers in Hollywood, just years after they might have been scoffed at by the business.
'The Wrestler' was also a critical and commercial success, grossing $44.7M worldwide and bringing in two Academy Award nominations.
On a recent episode of Celebrity Big Brother, actor Mickey Rourke recalled his difficult time shooting the film, saying that he didn't get much sleep despite having a ton of physicality in his role. Rourke also recalled skipping the film's wrap party because he was so exhausted.
"I wasn’t that big a fan of it [The Wrestler]… We also had such a low budget so I was working 15-16-hour days with 6 hours sleep with all the physicality. And I put on like 40 or 50 pounds so my body was uncomfortable at that weight. The last day of working on The Wrestler I was sitting in my living room in New York and I was on the couch shaking, and crying, and hyperventilating, and exhausted. And they’re going, ‘Hey, where are you? We’re at the wrap party.” And I had called my priest, my doctor, my psychiatrist because I felt like I was dying."
Rourke is currently surrounded in controversy after using homophobic slurs against Jojo Siwa on Celebrity Big Brother. Rourke is currently up for elimination from the show after being warned about his comments by producers.
'The Wrestler' is currently available to stream on Hulu and Disney+. Along with Rourke, the film is directed by Darren Aronofsky and includes names like Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and Todd Barry.
Special thanks to Cultaholic for the quote(s). Check out their full post by clicking here.
