Cigar Exclusive: Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei discuss "The Wrestler

12/09/08 - Careers involving extravagant amounts of steroids, spandex, and fake blood are generally pretty short lived- and pro-wrestling is no exception. The bizarre glory that comes courtesy of pretending to pummel oversized men in a strange, staged spectacle of aggression is intense- and it's fleeting. And once you get too old to tug on the old spandex pants and bash plywood planks over the heads of your caped opponents- well, it's hard to make a comeback.

The question of what, exactly, one does when that sideshow glory dissolves into a fog of health problems, dead-end jobs, and barely-requited romances is at the center of director Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) latest stunner, The Wrestler (slated for wide release December 26).

Down-and-out champ Randy "The Ram" Robinson, played by a surprisingly superb Mickey Rourke, takes more hits out in the real world than he does in the ring: his daughter Stephany severs ties, he clumsily courts an aging stripper who goes by the stage name "Cassidy" (played by an immensely likable Marisa Tomei), he can barely afford the rent on his trailer, and he spends his free time trekking across the slummier parts of New Jersey to perform in rec halls and school gyms, clinging to the small scraps of affectation that wrestling still affords him.

In interview with the Cigar, Marisa Tomei remarked that The Wrestler is "an athlete's story, and an artist's story too. It's about something that you love and kind of built your life around- the business part of that betraying you or your body betraying you."

"Transitions, identity- absolutely- and artistry too.that was something that Darren [Aronofsky] talked about early on."

Aronofsky, for his part, pared it down even more, saying: "It's really about a guy who wants to be loved."

The character of Randy is "a combination of a lot of guys," according to Aronofsky- who was also kind enough to sit down and discuss the film. "The sad thing is the more of these guys we met, the more clichés we ran into because so many of their lives ended up in a similar way."

And Rourke, a former boxer himself, captures the cliché perfectly. His face mottled by plastic surgery, his body swollen, and his hair bleached, Rourke- despite looking like a haggard, bloated Ken doll- somehow manages to humanize Randy, the washed-up showman still pursuing the adoration of the motley crowds.

"It was great," Aronofsky, said, "the other night Rowdy Ronnie Piper showed up at a screening - he was a big wrestler early 90s, late 80s, and he loved it. He broke down and cried in Mickey Rourke's arms. It was really emotional; he was psyched that his story was finally told."

Tomei drew comparisons between Rourke's battered, ailing wrestler, and her own character, Cassidy- a winsome but worn-out dancer.

"It's almost more like they're comrades or something- they've both been through this incredibly challenging lifestyle between using their bodies, the athleticism of that, their bodies betraying them, the performance aspect, the adulation aspect- even in a tiny little arena, there's a performance high that she gets too and I think she's at a crossroads the way that he is."

".She's every day exercising the muscles of manipulation and deception and fantasy-giving and just a whole other persona," Tomei explained: " I mean she's wearing a mask all the time."

And the issues of aging and identity that the film delves into are especially resonant for Tomei as an actress: "In a way this movie is making that transition for me," Tomei remarked thoughtfully. "Because typically, at my age, which is early 40s, people say 'Oh you can't act anymore' or whatever- that's Hollywood hokum- but this movie has just opened up another layer for me as an actor. so it in itself is kind of taking me through that."

Visually, there's almost a sideshow mentality to the film, and Aronofsky takes full advantage of the luridly ridiculous world of wrestling. The "Jackass"-style spectacle of the sport is out in full force: the stunts (involving staple guns, prosthetic legs, and baking pans) the fake blood- and, yes, even the occasional midget- are all part of the elaborate show.

And this one-ring circus is all shot documentary style, with a morbidly naturalistic feel.

"I call it a proactive documentary style instead of a reactive," Aronofsky said . "we could kind of swing with [Rourke] since we knew it was coming or we could even lead him to certain things it was documentary style but since it was narrative it was orchestrated."

"I think my whole visual style comes out of having no money," Aronofsky relayed, "because I've never had enough money- every time. So every kind of visual style I've made has just come out of just trying to save money to have more time with the actors.

"If you have limitations," he continued, "you have to figure out how to turn them into positives. That's the big secret, I think for any creative thing... It's all about clever ways to get by."

And Aronofsky's short-on-resources, long-on-creativity approach lent itself well to spontaneous left-field scenes- like the one in which Rourke beats an opponent with a fan's prosthetic leg.

"The stunt coordinator was an amazing guy who helps a lot of kids who come out of Iraq, and that kid had just gotten out of Iraq and had just had both legs and his arm blown off. The kid just said 'hey instead of a chair why don't they use my leg?' Mickey and I loved the idea and we just kind of worked it in and the crowd just jumped in and [started chanting] 'Use his leg!'

"That was the crowd improvising. So the whole film was very relaxed. With my past films I was much more prepared and much more rigid in my approach, and this film I just wanted to go in a very free form way and see what happened. So it just shows you that different ways work."