I come from a violent background. So I became hard. I realised that I had made myself that way to deal with a feeling of abandonment and shame.

I trained like an animal, but the thing is focus and concentration. When the bell rings it's like when the little red light goes on over the camera. And I can usually nail my lines on the first or second take because I'm right there.

I tried to change my name for the fights, but the only way they could pay me money was if I used my own name. I wanted to change my name to, like, Romeo something-or-other, and they said, "No, we can't do that. We've got to use Mickey Rourke." Because they paid me a lot of money to go over to Europe and Asia to fight.

Sometimes, when a man is alone, that's all you got is your dog.

I still work out most days. When I do it, I go full blast five or six days a week, two to three hours a day. I enjoy it. It's therapeutic for me.

It's the formulaic studio movies the make money, and when they do, the actors in them are automatically movie stars.

Being out of work for 13 to 15 years is no walk in the park.