For my money, the best movie of 2008 is The Wrestler, a low-budget drama directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke in a performance that will probably net him a Best Actor nomination in every major awards competition of the season. Since the Academy loves comeback stories, and Rourke has lived a harder life than most in Hollywood could ever dream of (there are too many lows to list here), there's a good chance he'll even be walking home with an Oscar.

I recently sat down with the 52-year-old fallen star for what is probably the most forthcoming conversation I've ever had with an actor. He spoke freely about his tumultuous past, poking fun at himself along the way, and had no problem admitting to parallels between his life and his character's (Randy the Ram, a one-time wrestling champion who has fallen on hard times and now scrapes by while searching for a modicum of the respect he once had). After watching Rourke's performance, it's staggering to believe that studio heads originally pressured Aronofsky into replacing Rourke with Nicolas Cage of all people. God. What a travesty that would have been!

Cole Haddon: What drew you to Randy the Ram in the first place?

Mickey Rourke: Well, I think the main thing was what attracted me to the piece, the fact that I had an opportunity to work with a really special director [Aronofsky]. 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 [Francis Ford] Coppola, and the rest of them. And I think guys like him come around every 30 years, and I think he's going to have a long, very distinguished career and break some new ground with the way he shoots films. You know, what I like about him right now is he's not making movies to become rich [grins]. He lets his wife [Rachel Weisz] do that. 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. 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. And I think the thing I was afraid of most is when I met him -- he's very much an authority kind of figure. He's very direct. He's very uncompromising with everything in his life, I think. He likes to think of himself as this liberal, open-minded kind of person, but he's really the captain and he runs the ship, and that's just the way it is. And when he points his finger at you he doesn't understand that going like this [he points], that somebody may break it. And he didn't meet me 15 years ago, thank God. Somebody said to me, "Do you think you could have given the same performance 15 years ago?" and I went, "F*ck yeah." And then when I thought about it, I went, "No. I would have told him to [f*ck off], or kicked him in the ass," you know?

CH: You've overcome a lot of personal obstacles in your life. How does it feel to be back on top of your game? You've been mentioned for several awards.

MR: When shit started to happen for us in Venice, we didn't even have a distributor. I mean, I knew and felt we had something after like six days, but I didn't know it would go this far. Then we went to Toronto, and people were really receptive. And some reviews came out that were really [positive]. I wasn't really surprised at that. I think the thing that's kind of unreal is after, like, ten years went by and I wasn't working... [He pauses to reconsider how he felt.] You know, I thought, "I really don't want to be in this business if I'm going to come in and work a day or two." You know, that kind of career. You know ... "If I can't be the man, then I'd rather just go back to Miami and do whatever the f*ck lands on my lap."

And I think after Sin City that kind of opened the door a little bit, and then this thing kicked the door down. And I'm really lucky to have a second chance, because I really misbehaved for 15 years, really f*cking badly. And I regret it. I just didn't have the tools to change at the time, and to really work and change myself outside, and work with somebody, get information on why I misbehaved. I destroyed everything I worked so hard to do. I [had] worked really hard to be the best actor I could be when I was at the studio. And I think early on, with early success that brought old wounds up, I questioned my life and what happened in my life. And instead of feeling good about it, I was really angry about it.

CH: Were there moments playing Randy that hit a little too close to home for you?

MR: Many. Yeah. It was one of the reasons I was replaced early on, [and] where everybody was upset about it but me. Because when I sat across from Darren, I was looking at him and listening, and the monotone voice he has, and the way he looks at you -- you can see how smart the guy is, just hearing him, [and] I knew he'd want his pound of flesh, you know? And I knew why he wanted me. And I thought, "I'm going to have to revisit some really dark, painful places." I wasn't so much worried about the physical stuff as I was that. And I think I was relieved when I was replaced, because I thought, "Oh, let me just go do some half-ass movie, get paid ten times more than they're offering me on this." But there was the other side of my brain that went, "This is a chance to work with somebody really good."

CH: Have you reached a place of peace with yourself now?

MR: I'm getting there. I'm almost ... I'm pretty much there, kind of, sort of. As much as probably I'll ever be. If that's the question, that's the answer: as much as I'll ever be. There's always going to be a war going on inside of me. That's just, I think, my make-up. It just gives me the fire to burn to keep moving forward. But a lot comes with the territory. I've just got to keep a lid on it.

CH: Finally, it's off topic, but what's the status of Sin City 2? I'm anxious to see the return of Marv.

MR: I have no idea about that. You'll have to talk to them confused people.

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