Gareth Thomas has been palling around with Mickey Rourke to help the Wrestler actor prepare for his role in an upcoming biopic about the gay rugby player.
Apparently the two have become come close friends while working on the project, with Rourke moving to Wales so Thomas can get him into fighting-trim shape, TheGayUK.com reports.
Rourke will even appear in Thomas’s upcoming workout video.
It hasn’t been all pushups and jumping jacks, though: Thomas took Rourke to some Soho gay bars when they were both in London: “We planned to go gay clubbing but we didn’t want to get pictured going out,” Thomas told the Daily Star. “We just wanted to go out and have fun and let him experience a gay club.”
While Rourke has proven his dedication to demanding physical roles, at 60, he’s decades older than the former Crusaders player, and not exactly the imposing colossus that Thomas, 38, is. Thomas has defended Rourke in the role, though, and says the film should start shooting in mid-2013.
What do you think: Can Rourke pull this off or would you have cast someone else?
Obligatory youthful Rourke pic
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Of course Mickey Rourke would be playing gay, 20 years after his use by date.