Rourke: 'I lived in a state of shame'

Mickey Rourke has revealed that his time away from the spotlight made him feel ashamed.

The actor said that the plight of washed-up grappler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in new movie The Wrestler closely mirrors his own struggle back into the movies.

"I know what that's like. Randy was somebody 20 years ago and so was Mickey Rourke," he said.

"When you used to be a somebody and you aren't anybody anymore, you live in what my doctor calls a state of shame. It's when you had a career, then you mess up and you don’t have a career anymore, and it's all your fault."

Rourke added that the training regime he endured to make his turn as a wrestler believable was hellish and gave him a respect for the industry.

"Everybody knows wrestling is entertainment, but when you're getting thrown around like that something is going to snap, crackle and pop. I went to the doctor so many times that I call him John, he calls me Mickey," he said.

> Rourke recalls brutal 'Wrestler' training