Mickey Rourke’s performance in the movie is a standout, with him managing to embody the character both emotionally and physically, gaining an impressive 27 pounds of muscle for the film. Rourke’s portrayal of the emotionally stunted former wrestling star Randy “The Ram” Robinson is nuanced and dark, while still managing to play humorously in multiple scenes.

According to Rourke, working with Aronofsky in itself was a dream of his. “I think the main thing that attracted me to the piece was the fact that I had an opportunity to work with a really special director,” said Rourke in his Collider interview. “In the years I’ve been working, I can count them on maybe four or five fingers, and I could put him right there right at the top of the list with Coppola and the rest of them, Cimino, Adrian Lyne.”

Including Aronofsky in the same list as those legendary directors is high praise, but not a ridiculous take whatsoever. The respect Rourke had for Aronofsky was returned by the director during the filming process, when Aronofsky fought for Rourke to remain in the film. “He’s very uncompromising. He has a lot of integrity, and he’s smarter than the rest of us. I knew why he wanted me to do this part. I mean, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out,” said Rourke, himself a former boxer. “But he really fought for me to do this role when he had a lot of resistance, and he kept fighting for me to do it. And then finally, I lost the part, and I guess even when I lost it, he kept fighting for me to do it. And it worked out.”