Mickey Rourke (26 page)

T
HE DECLINE OF
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE HAD BEEN ONE OF
H
OLLYWOOD’S SADDEST TALES, BUT THE FALLEN STAR STILL HAD ENOUGH HOPE AND DETERMINATION LEFT TO GIVE HIS STORY A HAPPY ENDING.

8
T
HE
W
RESTLER

M
ICKEY
R
OURKE WAS LAID UP IN A HOSPITAL BED AT
LA
’S
C
EDARS-
S
INAI
M
EDICAL
C
ENTER RECOVERING FROM AN APPENDIX OPERATION, FEELING PRETTY SORRY FOR HIMSELF, AND WONDERING WHERE ON EARTH HIS ROLLER-COASTER CAREER WOULD GO NEXT.

S
UDDENLY, THE PHONE RANG IN HIS ROOM AND THE PATIENT TOOK THE CALL THAT WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
O
N THE OTHER END OF THE LINE WAS
D
ARREN
A
RONOFSKY, AN UP-AND-COMING DIRECTOR ABOUT WHOM
M
ICKEY’S REPRESENTATIVES HAD OFTEN RAVED.
H
E SAID HE HAD A PROJECT HE FELT
M
ICKEY WOULD BE JUST RIGHT FOR AND ASKED IF THEY COULD MEET TO DISCUSS IT.

M
ICKEY IMMEDIATELY INVITED HIM TO COME TO HIS ROOM AT
C
EDARS SO THEY COULD TALK, BUT
D
ARREN REFUSED, SAYING HE HAD A PHOBIA OF HOSPITALS.
A
RONOFSKY SUGGESTED THEY MEET INSTEAD AT HIS OFFICE WHEN THE ACTOR WAS BETTER, BUT
M
ICKEY REFUSED, SAYING HE DIDN’T LIKE OFFICES.

W
ELL AWARE OF
M
ICKEY’S ECCENTRIC REPUTATION,
D
ARREN WASN’T AT ALL SURPRISED BY THAT REMARK AND THEY EVENTUALLY AGREED TO MEET WHEN THEY WERE BOTH IN
N
EW
Y
ORK A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER IN A RESTAURANT BOTH OF THEM KNEW.
O
NE OF THE MOST REWARDING PARTNERSHIPS OF EACH MAN’S CAREER WAS ABOUT TO BE LAUNCHED.

* * *

T
HE NOVELIST
F
.
S
COTT
F
ITZGERALD FAMOUSLY ONCE DECLARED, “
T
HERE ARE NO SECOND ACTS IN
A
MERICAN LIVES.”
B
UT THEN, HE NEVER SAW
THE WRESTLER
.

T
HAT FILM TURNED EVERYTHING AROUND FOR
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE, TRANSFORMING HIM FROM HAS-BEEN TO HOT PROPERTY.
I
T’S A STORY OF GREAT DRAMA AND EMOTION – BUT SO, TOO, IS THE TALE OF HOW THE MOVIE WAS MADE.

E
VERYTHING STARTED WITH THE WRITER,
R
OBERT
D
.
S
IEGEL.
H
E HAD SPENT EIGHT YEARS AS EDITOR OF ONE OF
A
MERICA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDY PUBLICATIONS, SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER
THE ONION
, BUT EVENTUALLY GOT THE URGE TO TRY A DIFFERENT FORM OF WRITING.
H
E SWITCHED TO SCREENPLAYS BUT NONE OF THE COMEDY SCRIPTS HE WROTE SEEMED TO WORK.
S
O
R
OBERT INSTEAD SET OUT TO WRITE SOMETHING CLOSER TO THE KIND OF GRITTY SPORTS MOVIES HE ENJOYED, LIKE
ROCKY
AND
RAGING BULL
.

T
HE RESULT WAS A FILM CALLED
PAUL AUFIERO
, WHICH FOLLOWS THE EXPERIENCES OF A CAR PARK ATTENDANT AND SELF-DESCRIBED “WORLD’S BIGGEST
N
EW
Y
ORK
G
IANTS FAN” WHO GETS BEATEN UP BY HIS FAVORITE PLAYER ON THE TEAM.
T
HE SCREENPLAY FOUND ITS WAY TO RISING STAR DIRECTOR
D
ARREN
A
RONOFSKY, WHO HAD MADE HIS NAME WITH THE STYLISH AND EDGY FILMS
PI
AND
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
, AND HE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED DIRECTING IT AS HIS NEXT PROJECT.

B
UT
A
RONOFSKY PASSED BECAUSE HIS HEART WAS SET INSTEAD ON MAKING A MOVIE SET IN THE WORLD OF WRESTLING – AN IDEA HE’D HAD WHEN HE GRADUATED FROM THE
A
MERICAN
F
ILM
I
NSTITUTE AND WHICH WAS INSPIRED BY HIS OBSERVATION THAT NO ONE HAD EVER MADE A SERIOUS MOVIE ABOUT THE SPORT.
A
RONOFSKY HAD BEEN A FAN OF WRESTLING AS A KID AND ONE OF HIS FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES was of attending a match at New York’s Madison Square Garden in the early 1980s.

H
E NEEDED A WRITER FOR THE WRESTLING FILM HE WAS NOW READY TO MAKE AND, AS HE LOVED THE MOOD, DARK HUMOR, AND SAD DRAMA OF
S
IEGEL’S WRITING, HE INVITED HIM TO MEET HIM IN A COFFEE SHOP WHERE HE PITCHED THE IDEA TO HIM.

T
HE ASPIRING SCREENWRITER WAS IMMEDIATELY HOOKED BY THE CONCEPT AND IDEAS CAME POURING OUT OF HIM WHEN
D
ARREN GOT HIM A COPY OF THE 1999 DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
BEYOND THE MAT
, WHICH FOLLOWS SEVERAL FORMER WRESTLING STARS STILL PERFORMING AT LOCAL ARENAS BUT FOR LITTLE MONEY AND DESPITE SUFFERING WITH VARIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS.

T
HE PAIR AGREED TO COLLABORATE AND ATTENDED WRESTLING SHOWS TOGETHER WHERE THEY TALKED TO WRESTLERS, INCLUDING VETERANS SUCH AS
K
ING
K
ONG
B
UNDY,
N
IKOLAI
V
OLKOFF, AND
J
IMMY
S
UPERFLY
S
NUKA, ALONG THE WAY DISCOVERING A DEEP ADMIRATION FOR SUCH GUYS AND WANTING TO CREATE A CHARACTER THAT WOULD EXIST AS A TRIBUTE TO THEM.

R
OBERT, WHO MAKES A CAMEO APPEARANCE IN
THE WRESTLER
AS A FAN GETTING AN AUTOGRAPH FROM
T
HE
R
AM, WORKED ON VARIOUS DRAFTS OF THE SCRIPT OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS WHILE
D
ARREN WORKED ON DIRECTING
THE FOUNTAIN
, A BIG-BUDGET, HUGELY AMBITIOUS, TIME-TRAVEL ROMANCE THAT WOULD FLOP BADLY AT THE BOX OFFICE, AND THE TWO WOULD CHECK IN EVERY SO OFTEN AND EXCHANGE IDEAS.

C
ASTING WAS DISCUSSED AT THIS STAGE AND BOTH MEN HAD ONLY ONE MAN IN MIND FOR THE LEAD ROLE –
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE.
B
OTH WERE BIG FANS OF HIS ACTING AND
D
ARREN POINTED OUT THAT
M
ICKEY’S OWN PERSONAL MYTHOLOGY HAD PARALLELS TO THE CHARACTER THEY WERE CREATING, WHO BY NOW WAS CALLED
R
ANDY “
T
HE
R
AM”
R
OBINSON.

W
HEN
R
OBERT WENT BACK TO WORK ON THE SCRIPT, HE PRINTED OUT TWO PICTURES OF
M
ICKEY THAT HE TAPED TO HIS LAPTOP SCREEN AS INSPIRATION – ONE FROM HIS HANDSOME, YOUNGER DAYS IN
DINER,
AND ONE LOOKING OLDER AND BEATEN UP BY LIFE AT A RECENT MOVIE PREMIERE.
B
Y VISUALIZING
M
ICKEY IN THE LEAD ROLE, HIS SCRIPT REALLY STARTED TO FLOW AND, AFTER FIFTY DRAFTS, IT WAS MORE OR LESS FINISHED.

S
IEGEL, WHO HAS SINCE REWRITTEN
PAUL AUFIERO
UNDER THE NEW TITLE
BIG FAN
AND MADE HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH THAT FILM, WHICH GOT A SMALL THEATRICAL RELEASE IN LATE 2009, WAS READY TO HAND OVER HIS SCRIPT FOR
THE WRESTLER
.
H
E HAD BEEN PAID THROUGHOUT THE WRITING PROCESS BY
H
OLLYWOOD STUDIO
W
ARNER
B
ROS., KEEN TO DEVELOP THE PROJECT AND RELEASE IT.
B
UT AS SOON AS THE STUDIO LEARNED THAT
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE WAS THE MAN IN MIND FOR THE LEAD ROLE, IT LOST INTEREST IN THE MOVIE.
T
HEIR EXECUTIVES ARGUED, AND IT WAS HARD TO DISAGREE WITH THEM, THAT
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE WAS NO LONGER A BOX-OFFICE NAME WHO WOULD GUARANTEE A RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT.

B
UT
A
RONOFSKY WAS WILLING TO PUT HIS CAREER AND REPUTATION ON THE LINE TO FIGHT FOR HIS FIRST CHOICE AND FELT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO GET THE MOVIE MADE SOMEWHERE WITH
M
ICKEY ATTACHED, EVEN IF THE BUDGET HAD TO BE LOWER THAN ORIGINALLY PLANNED.
F
IRST, THOUGH, HE HAD TO GET
M
ICKEY INTERESTED IN THE MOVIE.

M
ICKEY WAS THE FIRST TO GET TO THE
G
REENWICH
V
ILLAGE RESTAURANT AT WHICH THEY HAD AGREED TO MEET AND, NOT KNOWING WHAT
A
RONOFSKY LOOKED LIKE, GAZED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND QUICKLY WORKED OUT WHICH OF THE ARRIVING CUSTOMERS WAS THE MAN HE HAD COME TO SEE.
R
ECALLING HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE DIRECTOR, Mickey commented during one of our discussions, “I saw a guy pull up outside on a bicycle in an orange crash helmet. I thought, ‘What a fucking pussy.’ He looked real Jewish and real smart and when he walked in he had a swagger about him like his balls were too big for his pants.

“
H
E CAME OVER AND SMILED AND STILL HAD A SMILE ON HIS FACE WHILE HE TOLD ME
I
’D MESSED UP MY CAREER.
A
CTUALLY HE SAID, ‘
L
ISTEN, MAN, YOU’RE A REALLY GREAT ACTOR WHO’S JUST FUCKED UP YOUR CAREER…NO ONE WANTS TO WORK WITH YOU,’ BUT HE TOLD ME HE HAD A PROJECT
I
WOULD BE GOOD FOR.”

D
ARREN OUTLINED THE STORY ABOUT A BURNED-OUT WRESTLER WHO WAS ONCE A BIG STAR IN THE SPORT BUT IS NOW A HAS-BEEN LIVING IN A TRAILER PARK AND REDUCED TO DRAGGING HIS BATTERED BODY INTO THE RING FOR SMALL-TIME BOUTS, AND SEEMED TO CAPTURE
M
ICKEY’S INTEREST.
M
ICKEY HAD NO RESPECT FOR WRESTLERS AND HAD LONG THOUGHT OF THE SPORT AS A JOKE, BUT HE NEEDED A JOB AND SO KEPT QUIET.

B
UT THEN
D
ARREN SHOCKED HIM BY TELLING
M
ICKEY HE WAS WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEMS
M
ICKEY HAD CAUSED FOR DIRECTORS ON HIS EARLIER FILMS AND, IF THEY WORKED TOGETHER, HE WOULD HAVE TO BE UTTERLY COMPLIANT AT ALL TIMES AND RESPECT HIS AUTHORITY.

“
W
HILE POINTING HIS FINGER AT ME, HE SAID IF
I
MAKE THE MOVIE WITH YOU, YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING
I
SAY, YOU NEVER DENIGRATE ME IN FRONT OF THE CREW.
Y
OU CAN’T GO HANGING OUT ALL NIGHT AND
I
CAN’T PAY YOU.”

T
HE OLD
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE WOULD LIKELY HAVE TOLD HIM TO GO FUCK HIMSELF AND HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE MOVIE WOULD HAVE ENDED RIGHT THERE.
B
UT AFTER YEARS OF THERAPY AND BETTER CAREER GUIDANCE, HE SAW THINGS DIFFERENTLY NOW.
N
O DOUBT
M
ICKEY WAS SHOCKED BY THE COMMENTS BUT HE ADMIRED THE DIRECTOR’S HONESTY.
S
O MANY MOVIEMAKERS HAD LIED TO HIM OVER THE YEARS AND HAD LATER STABBED HIM IN THE BACK THAT HE LIKED HOW
A
RONOFSKY WAS HONEST ENOUGH TO LAY HIS CARDS ON THE TABLE UP FRONT.

M
ICKEY TOOK THE SCRIPT HOME – BUT HARDLY FELL IN LOVE WITH IT RIGHT AWAY.
H
E ADMITS, “
I
READ THE SCRIPT – AND
I
DIDN’T THINK IT WAS THAT GREAT.”
H
IS FIRST REACTION TO
R
ANDY “
T
HE
R
AM” WAS “THAT CHARACTER IS ONE PATHETIC SON OF A BITCH.”
H
E ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT THE CHARACTER FELT SHAME AT HIS HAS-BEEN STATUS AND
M
ICKEY DIDN’T KNOW IF HE WANTED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SIMILAR EMOTIONS WITHIN HIMSELF.

M
ICKEY HAD TRAINED AT THE
A
CTORS’
S
TUDIO IN THE
S
TANISLAVSKI METHOD, WHICH ENCOURAGES ACTORS TO PERSONALIZE EVERYTHING.
S
O HE KNEW TAKING THE PART WOULD MEAN PUTTING HIMSELF IN A DARK PLACE EMOTIONALLY BY REVISITING SOME PAINFUL MOMENTS FROM HIS OWN LIFE.
B
UT HE HAD FAITH THAT HE WAS IN GOOD HANDS WITH
A
RONOFSKY AND FELT THAT TOGETHER THEY COULD IMPROVE THE SCRIPT AND MAKE A VERY GOOD FILM. “
I
’D HEARD A LOT ABOUT
D
ARREN
A
RONOFSKY FOR A FEW YEARS.
P
EOPLE WHO WORK FOR ME HAD SAID HE WANTED TO WORK WITH ME.”

M
ICKEY WOULD COME TO CONSIDER THE MOVIEMAKER TO BE AMONG THE VERY BEST IN THE BUSINESS. “
H
E REMINDED ME OF
C
OPPOLA.
H
E DOESN’T COMPROMISE.
H
E TAKES CHANCES.
H
E DOESN’T MAKE YOUR USUAL
T
OM
C
RUISE MOVIE.
H
E’S RESISTED
H
OLLYWOOD’S EFFORTS TO MAKE HIM DO LOUSY MOVIES.
T
HAT SOUNDED INTERESTING TO ME.
I
HAVE RESPECT FOR SOMEONE WHO THEY THROW MONEY AT BUT HE SAYS NO IN ORDER TO DO HIS OWN THING.”

M
ICKEY HAD SOME IDEAS FOR MAKING THE MOVIE BETTER AND WAS happy that Aronofsky welcomed his suggestions and let him rewrite sections of the script. He said, “One was the scene in the locker room when Ram and the other wrestler are talking about the pharmaceuticals. I had pumped iron with muscle heads at the gym for fifteen years and I saw a few things. It was very important not to hide what really goes on. These days the wrestlers are all chiseled up. There are physical requirements your body has to take on, a certain way to look, and people do many things that might harm them down the road.”

A
S WELL AS ADDING THAT SCENE WHERE
T
HE
R
AM IS SHOPPING FOR STEROIDS,
M
ICKEY PUNCHED UP THE DIALOGUE WHERE THE WRESTLER POURS HIS HEART OUT TO THE DAUGHTER HE ABANDONED.
H
E ALSO WROTE THE BIG SCENE AT THE END WHERE
T
HE
R
AM SAYS HE NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD BE BACK IN THE RING AGAIN, THAT HE ISN’T AS YOUNG OR AS GOOD LOOKING AS HE USED TO BE.
T
HAT SCENE WAS ALL
M
ICKEY, WRITING FROM HIS OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES.
B
UT DESPITE ALL THE SIMILARITIES,
M
ICKEY HAS BEEN KEEN TO POINT OUT THAT HE ISN’T PLAYING HIMSELF IN
THE WRESTLER
.