Hollywood star Mickey Rourke - who is enjoying a career resurgence after his critically-acclaimed performance in 'The Wrestler' - claims he "wasn't educated enough" to maintain his early success.
Mickey Rourke "wasn't educated enough" to maintain success.
The actor - who is hotly-tipped to win the Best Actor Oscar tomorrow night (22.02.09) for his role in 'The Wrestler'- claims he lost out on several leading movie roles because he had no idea how to behave correctly.
He said: "It was an accumulation of mistakes. You go out there, think you can rise above the s**t, but you fall into it... there were no rules. I didn't know you had to sell yourself, I wasn't educated enough to understand it, to play the game."
The 52-year-old star also said it would "mean everything" to him if he receives an Academy Award for his portrayal of faded grappler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson.
Rourke - who was one of the biggest stars of the 80s before his difficult behaviour and partying made him a Hollywood outcast for around 15 years - accepts he only has himself to blame for his enormous fall from grace - added to British talk show host Jonathan Ross: "After my drought it would mean everything. It would be an honour."
Rourke also revealed the training and fitness regime for the movie left him a physical wreck.
He explained: "I had to spend seven months putting on 28 pounds, eating seven times a day, I thought, 'It's going to be fun,' but I hated it. I ended up with three MRIs in two months, my legs couldn't carry the weight."
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