Hollywood to Huddersfield for Giants’ film star friend Mickey Rourke
“On the back of playing for the Giants in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley, I’ve now become friends with a famous Hollywood actor and not a lot of Super League players can say that!
“Since those meetings in London, I’ve accepted an invitation off him and visited him in his apartment in New York, which was an incredible experience, and we exchange text messages on a regular basis.
“It’s obviously been fantastic for me, and I’d like to think that, in some small way, it can prove good for rugby league.
“We’ve seen how much extra exposure rugby league has received on the back of Russell Crowe’s involvement with Sydney Roosters in Australia, so why shouldn’t Mickey do the same, particularly now I know how interested he is in our game?
“It was amazing when we were first introduced to him on the Saturday night of the Cup final and he said he recognised us from watching the match that afternoon.
“To be honest, we couldn’t really believe it. It’s hard to imagine a Hollywood actor sitting down in front of the television and watching us playing rugby league, but that’s exactly what he was doing!
“He told us he’d followed the game for decades, ever since he’d seen his close friend Richard Harris star in the rugby league film This Sporting Life in the ’60s.”
Mickey is said to be keen to do a re-make of This Sporting Life if he can get hold of the rights to it.
Mason added: “Mickey told us how he had been impressed by the physical nature of the game. In his younger days he was a decent professional boxer (in his eight fights, he’d won six and drawn two) and saw a lot of similarities in the two sports.
“As a result, he said he was always keen to catch a game when he could, and he watches rugby league clips in his apartment on You Tube.
“In fact, because of our friendship, he’s really keen to come and watch one of our games when he’s next in England in March. Fortunately, we’ve got Leeds Rhinos at the Galpharm on the 14th, and the plan is for him to catch that one if at all possible.
“Obviously, he’s a very busy man and he’s got a lot of projects on the go, so that probably can’t be firmed up until the last minute.
“But I’ll definitely see about getting a box for him, or for the game against St Helens on March 28 if the Leeds game is a non-starter.”
Mickey Rourke began his career in the film 1941, directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1979.
He has since appeared in more than 50 films and in TV roles.
Recent films include Killshot and The Informers and he is due to appear in several films to be released next year, including 13, Iron Man 2, Passion Play and The Expendables.
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