 HE IS best known for his action man roles but now Mickey Rourke is in talks to play his most unusual part yet – that of Britain’s first openly gay rugby player, Gareth Thomas.
Mickey, who returned to Hollywood in 2008 blockbuster The Wrestler after 14 years in the wilderness dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, seeks roles that are different to anything he has done before to keep challenging himself.
The 57-year-old got in touch with Gareth after reading his story. Mickey, who is a huge rugby fan, has been interested in making a film about the sport for some time.
The pair met for the first time on Friday when the Hollywood star invited Gareth to the audience of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, on which he was a guest. Their managers are working to secure a deal to bring Gareth’s life to the big screen.
“Mickey Rourke is a big rugby fan and was flying to New York from London recently when he read an article about Gareth and thought he would be the perfect model for a film,” says Thomas’s spokesman.
“Mickey contacted Gareth via a mutual friend in rugby league to express his interest and invited Gareth to watch the Jonathan Ross show and to meet him for dinner afterwards.”
The Oscar-nominated actor is no stranger to a spot of physical sport. As well as his all-action lead role in The Wrestler, for which he won a Bafta and a Golden Globe, he is a trained boxer and fought professionally during his break from acting in the Nineties.
Wales’s most capped international Gareth, 35, rocked the rugby world in December when he outed himself as gay. He is delighted with Mickey’s interest in his career.
His spokesman says: “The fact that Mickey is so passionate about doing a picture has been really flattering and although we haven’t come to an agreement yet we’re really hoping it does happen. Now it’s for the two managers to sort it.”
Source: http://www.express.co.uk
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