Will Mickey Rourke be trading in his wrestling spandex for some rugby gear?
The Daily Mail reports that Rourke and gay British rugby player Gareth Thomas had dinner last week, and the actor invited the athlete to join the audience of “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross” which he guested on recently. Thomas is a well known rugby player who is ranked ninth in the world on the all-time Test try scoring list. In December 2009, three years after his marriage to his childhood sweetheart ended in divorce, Thomas came out and revealed he was gay. Interestingly, Thomas remains the only current athlete in a team sport who is openly gay and certainly his story seems like it would be a good one for the big screen, so no surprise then, that talks have begun.
However, the potential project is still in very early stages. Thomas’s manager and publicist Emmanuele Palladino says, “The next step is for us to agree the terms of the film with Mickey’s management, then it’ll be a question of getting script sorted.” Also, our guess? Rourke is not taking the role of Thomas. Simply put, he’s twenty years older than Thomas and while his physique might be good for a washed up wrestler, it’s not quite there for a still-active rugby player. Our guess is that he might produce the project, or take on the role as a father/coach or other figure in Thomas’ life.
So, it’s something that might happen down the line, but it’s not that Rourke is wanting for work. He recently wrapped Tarsem’s sword and sandals flick “Immortals,” will hook up with Tony Scott early next year for “Potsdamer Platz” and has an adaptation of Sonny Barger’s autobiography titled “Hell’s Angels” in the works as well.
They should get Tom Hardy.