Rourke gets ovations for 'The Wrestler'

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Actor Mickey Rourke received two ovations at the London premiere of his new movie "The Wrestler". He called it the best and the hardest movie of his life.

Thesun.co.uk reports that he is now a front runner to win an Academy Award.

Speaking about his role, Rourke said: "It was physically brutal. I had to do seven-and-a-half months of extensive weightlifting, and eating six or seven meals a day to put on 27 pounds of muscle. That's not a lot of time - so I had this ex-soldier who was very strict with me about my training regime and my diet. Then there was four-and-a-half months of wrestling training - in which we worked on the choreography seven days a week.

"By the time the movie started - I thought it was over! Although I disliked the wrestling training very much at the beginning, by the end of the third month I was actually going in with the guys learning the more sophisticated moves. So, once I wasn't so clumsy at doing it, I started to really enjoy it."

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The Wrestler