Did Mickey Rourke Juice Up For 'The Wrestler'?

I saw The Wrestler on Sunday, the feel-good hit of 2009 that makes steroids fun again. And speaking of steroids, rumor has it that Mickey Rourke took a lot of them.

According to Men's Journal, via the New York Daily News, Rourke all but admitted that he beefed up chemically for the role, which has already won him a Golden Globe for best actor.

Mickey Rourke really did those backflips and rope dives in “The Wrestler,” but probably not without a little help. Though he doubled his daily 80-minute workouts with an Israeli cage fighter and ate seven meals a day, Men’s Journal reports that he most likely took steroids. When asked, Rourke said: “When I’m a wrestler, I behave like a wrestler.”

Ah, so that's what Roger Clemens was doing; method acting.

I don't claim to have enjoyed the film as much as a certain Prince Valiant-hairstyled former Deadspin editor — that may not even be humanly possible — but I do agree that it's a great movie; Rourke deserves all the accolades. Is there a separate Oscar category for getting your body punctured with a staple gun? There's also a perfectly lovely scene involving a deli slicer, which we don't see often enough in films these days. Needles, razor blades, staples, deli slicer: Wizard Cat gives this movie, six wands.

Oh, and in accepting his Golden Globe, Rourke thanked his two dogs. That is all kinds of awesome.

Mickey Rourke Alludes To Steroid Use In Last Movie [Graney And The Pig's Blog] (NSFW) Celebrity Side Dish [New York Daily News] Ten Things You Need To Know About The Wrestler [The New Yorker]