10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real

Mickey Rourke not winning a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler remains one of the all-time great awards travesties - sorry, Sean Penn.

As a self-contained performance, Rourke's naked vulnerability proves tremendously affecting, though his turn as a broken down, washed-up wrestler has an undeniably self-reflexive quality to it.

The Wrestler is a not-so-subtle meta-commentary on Rourke's own acting career, for after establishing himself as a household name throughout the 1980s, Rourke developed a reputation for being difficult and even quit acting for several years to become a boxer.

Rourke had burned many bridges in Hollywood and consequently struggled to secure meaty roles for himself until 2005, when he was expertly cast as Marv in Sin City.

This eventually led to Rourke picking up traction and scoring the lead role in The Wrestler, as was originally intended to be played by Nicolas Cage (!).

When Randy launches into his "I'm an old, broken down piece of meat" speech - the scene which basically secured Rourke's Oscar nomination - it's tough to view it through anything but an entirely self-regarding lens. Painful, but brilliant.