Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler briefly brought Mickey Rourke back from the realm of Family Guy reference obscurity to earn him an Oscar nomination for playing washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Part of what made the film so effective was its realistic portrayal of the brutality professional wrestlers inflict upon themselves for the sake of their careers, including chronic injuries, painkiller and recreational drug addictions, and the heart problems that go hand in hand with years of substance abuse.
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Not to mention the fashion sacrifices.
There are even several scenes wherein Randy and his fellow performers smuggle razor blades into the ring to cut their faces open after taking particularly big hits in order to make the action in the show more shocking and believable. It's enough to make you forgive the ridiculousness of characters like Isaac Yankum, DDS, and Doink the Clown, if only for the runtime of the film.
Well, Rourke decided that if he was going to put all of himself into this role, he wasn't about to smash a packet of ketchup into his forehead and wing it. According to Rourke, Aronofsky was the one who had initially suggested that Rourke cut himself for real, a move that the actor thought was possibly an attempt to scare him off, considering Aronofsky had major reservations about casting him to begin with. Aronofsky never brought the issue up again, but Rourke got himself so invested in the role that when that big scene came up, he pulled a concealed razor blade from his wrist straps and slashed his forehead open like Freddy Krueger popping a zit.
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The razor would later win the Golden Globe for Best Blade in a Dramatic Role.
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