Rourke's Wrestler studio snub

19 December 2008 02:14pm

Director Darren Aronofsky has told how he struggled to get backing for The Wrestler because he had cast Mickey Rourke as the lead.

The film - due out in the UK on January 16 - wowed at festivals and Mickey is now tipped for an Oscar. But Darren revealed film studios refused to fund the movie because the didn't trust Mickey as the lead.

He said: "It would have been a lot easier to have done it without Mickey, because no one wanted to make it with him. We spent a year and a half trying to raise the money and basically every financier in the world said 'No'.

"No one thought he could be sympathetic or could carry a feature film so it was very hard.

"But every time I met Mickey I was regrounded and reassured and I sat there and looked into his eyes and got a sense of his vibe so that gave me the confidence and then after the first few days of shooting it was pretty clear that he was doing some miraculous work."

Mickey stars as Randy The Ram Robinson, an ageing wrestler struggling to rebuild his relationship with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and a stripper he has befriended (Marisa Tomei)

Of the awards buzz now surrounding Mickey, Darren said: "He's incredibly unique and has done so much remarkable work and I'm just happy for him that people like what they're seeing. Because now, you know, he won't necessarily have to play just tough guys."

© The Press Association