STARS THAT STAND UP TO THE PLATE

When one thinks of Mickey Rourke, you honestly don’t think that he’s going to be easy to approach, but for a few fans, this was so un-true. Due to the filming of “The Wrestler” we’ve had a few friends and fans testing that feeling and Kudos to Mickey Rourke for stepping up to the plate and giving his fans their chance to shine along side of a true talent! Before going into our rather interesting piece with Mr. Kerns, there’s a quick mention of another fan having her time in spotlight over on MickeyRourkeOnline, make sure you check it out. Thanks to Kathy for sharing it with all the fans. Now getting back to our story. MickeyfanBase and Kathy at MickeyRourkeOnline were approached by a fan that had his opportunity to be an extra on the set of “The Wrestler” and well let’s just say he had some lovely gifts to share with us. So I thought I’d just throw a few questions his way to find out how everything came about. Somewhat of a fans perspective….

MFB: Hey there Bill, just a quick thanks for the images, they were perfect.

PBK: No problem. Enjoy.

MFB: What brought you to “The Wrestler”? Some found their way to the set from all the hype online with the extras-casting calls. Was this the route that brought you to the set?

PBK: I had read about it in the City Paper. “Philly’s Man about town,” AD Amorosi, mentioned in his weekly column that they were looking for extras for the movie but that you had to buy a ticket to the actual match. I immediately went on the New Alhambra website and bought tickets for my brother, his friend, and myself.

MFB: How long have you been a fan of Mickey Rourke’s and what movie actually did you in?

PBK: 1985. I remember taking a sick day from High School and Pope of Greenwich Village was on HBO. That’s what did me in. The chemistry between Eric Roberts and Mickey was amazing. I used to write screenplays and I’d go out to Hollywood about once a year. I hit all the Mickey hangouts but I never saw him except one time. I went to the Roxbury and Café Roma in Beverly Hills where he was known to hang out with Giuseppe Franco. I just wanted to shake his hand.

MFB: From talking to you, I’ve found that you have somewhat of a talent yourself. Would you like to give us a little birds-eye view?

PBK: I’ve done some other extra work in films. Non-speaking, blink your eye and you’ll miss it stuff. My car is in a scene in Rocky V. The hardest thing was not looking at Stallone. I had met him before a few times but this particular time it wasn’t Stallone. It was Rocky! That freaked me out a bit and I found it hard to just pretend I was waiting for the stoplight to turn green. I did another scene in that movie but it was cut out. I’m also in Howard Stern’s Butt Bongo Fiesta but that’s not exactly Oscar material. Mostly, I’m a musician. I hope to have something new out by summer. I’ll keep you tuned.

MFB: Now it’s time to give us your approach and outcome: Plus maybe a little atmosphere from the set?

PBK: Not sure what you mean by the first part. The atmosphere? Funny. Philly Wrestling Fans are a rare breed. When we arrived in South Philly they were filming inside without an audience so we had to wait. We weren’t sure if Mickey would actually be there. There were a bunch of trailers out front so I was hopeful. Then a side door opened and Afa the Samoan came out. So, knowing he was training Mickey, I was feeling a bit better. Aronofsky came out with a small film crew and told us he wanted to film the line outside. He asked everyone to act normal and pretend the camera wasn’t there. No one did care! It was amazing! Everyone just looked bored. They just wanted to see the actual matches. We were standing by the front door when it opened and Mickey’s bodyguard came out followed by Mickey right behind him. He had his hair piled on top of his head and a towel around him. He just looked straight ahead and, to be honest, kinda reeked from sweat. He went straight into the first trailer out front and not one person in line acknowledged him! Not one. Once inside, they started the regular matches. I’m not a big wrestling fan so it was my turn to be bored. Then the MC came out and apologized to the crowd and said they had to do some movie stuff but they would get right back to the “real” wrestling. The crew did a quick setup and the MC announced that we were to cheer for Rourke when he came out because The Ram was a good guy. Mickey came out and was high-fiving the audience. He climbed into the ring and sat in a chair facing the “bad guy”. They slapped each other in the face a few times and then Mickey climbed out of the ring and his body double took his place. Then they yelled “cut” and did a quick cleanup and resumed the regular matches. When they came out to do another scene the crowd started getting restless. You can hear it in the YouTube clip you have on the site. They were yelling “boooorrrring” over and over and jeering Aronofsky. That’s when we agreed to get out of there. I had brought along 2 old magazine pages that I grabbed at my brother’s house in case I got to meet Mickey. A few years ago I was walking along the Sunset Strip with my friend Chris. We walked past an outdoor restaurant and there was Mickey Rourke sitting at a table with a brunette. He was banging on the table with his fist like he was angry but, from the way the girl was looking at him and listening to him, he was probably just making a point. Anyway, since I had a camera on me, I decided to wait and see if Mickey would take a picture. At that point, Mickey clocked me staring at him like a mental patient and shot me a real mean look. My friend Chris said he was going across the street to buy meat. He asked me what kind of meat I wanted. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. Why would I want meat while I’m walking on Sunset? He said, “for your eye when Mickey Rourke punches you in the face!” He was right. Mickey didn’t look like he wanted a stalker hitting him up for pictures so I walked away. Anyway, back to present day. I walked out of the New Alhambra at the same time Mickey and his bodyguard walked out. Mickey went straight to his trailer. The bodyguard walked out and left the door open. Mickey was sitting on a couch talking to someone. He looked like he was in a good mood. I didn’t want to just walk up to the trailer and have the bodyguard come back and beat me into chuck roast so I waited. The bodyguard came back and I stopped him and asked if Mickey would sign my magazine. He had some kind of accent. Belgium or French or something. He asked to see my pictures. He said he would get only one signed. A Vanity Fair cover. He brought it up to Mickey and he took his time signing it. It wasn’t scribbled. It was his full name with a little drawing of some sort next to it. I thanked him. He just kind of smiled and nodded and gave it back to the bodyguard to hand to me. The funny part was, after the bodyguard handed me the autograph, a man came up with his young son. The kid had a dvd of Bullet in his hand. The kid was young and that movie isn’t exactly Disney so I had a feeling the Dad was the one that wanted the autograph. He asked the bodyguard if he could get his dvd signed for his son. The bodyguard said, “Not now. He’s working. Maybe later.” The man argued with the bodyguard for a bit which I thought was stupid because the bodyguard had tree trunks for arms. I just walked away feeling really lucky. So that’s my story.

MFB: Thanks again Bill and much luck with your ventures…

Actual Magazine Mickey Signed for Bill...

Here's Bill! Ok, it's not Mickey Standing next to him, but who doesn't like Mini Me "Verne Troyer"...Thanks Bill


				MICKEYFAN NEWSLINE *STARS THAT STAND UP TO THE PLATE*



	Home \| STARS THAT STAND UP TO THE PLATE \| ITS A SEQUEL (JUSTICE HOWARD) \| PETER SAMUELSON INTERVIEW \| JUSTICE HOWARD \| NEIL TURBIN INTERVIEW \| CHRISTIAN AUDIGIER \| THE AUCTION \| LINKS \| LET'S TALK


		“STARS THAT STAND UP TO THE PLATE” (In this case, the ring)



		When one thinks of Mickey Rourke, you honestly don’t think that he’s going to be easy to approach, but for a few fans, this was so un-true. Due to the filming of “The Wrestler” we’ve had a few friends and fans testing that feeling and Kudos to Mickey Rourke for stepping up to the plate and giving his fans their chance to shine along side of a true talent! Before going into our rather interesting piece with Mr. Kerns, there’s a quick mention of another fan having her time in spotlight over on MickeyRourkeOnline, make sure you check it out. Thanks to Kathy for sharing it with all the fans. Now getting back to our story. MickeyfanBase and Kathy at MickeyRourkeOnline were approached by a fan that had his opportunity to be an extra on the set of “The Wrestler” and well let’s just say he had some lovely gifts to share with us. So I thought I’d just throw a few questions his way to find out how everything came about. Somewhat of a fans perspective…. MFB: Hey there Bill, just a quick thanks for the images, they were perfect. PBK: No problem. Enjoy. MFB: What brought you to “The Wrestler”? Some found their way to the set from all the hype online with the extras-casting calls. Was this the route that brought you to the set? PBK: I had read about it in the City Paper. “Philly’s Man about town,” AD Amorosi, mentioned in his weekly column that they were looking for extras for the movie but that you had to buy a ticket to the actual match. I immediately went on the New Alhambra website and bought tickets for my brother, his friend, and myself. MFB: How long have you been a fan of Mickey Rourke’s and what movie actually did you in? PBK: 1985. I remember taking a sick day from High School and Pope of Greenwich Village was on HBO. That’s what did me in. The chemistry between Eric Roberts and Mickey was amazing. I used to write screenplays and I’d go out to Hollywood about once a year. I hit all the Mickey hangouts but I never saw him except one time. I went to the Roxbury and Café Roma in Beverly Hills where he was known to hang out with Giuseppe Franco. I just wanted to shake his hand. MFB: From talking to you, I’ve found that you have somewhat of a talent yourself. Would you like to give us a little birds-eye view? PBK: I’ve done some other extra work in films. Non-speaking, blink your eye and you’ll miss it stuff. My car is in a scene in Rocky V. The hardest thing was not looking at Stallone. I had met him before a few times but this particular time it wasn’t Stallone. It was Rocky! That freaked me out a bit and I found it hard to just pretend I was waiting for the stoplight to turn green. I did another scene in that movie but it was cut out. I’m also in Howard Stern’s Butt Bongo Fiesta but that’s not exactly Oscar material. Mostly, I’m a musician. I hope to have something new out by summer. I’ll keep you tuned. MFB: Now it’s time to give us your approach and outcome: Plus maybe a little atmosphere from the set? PBK: Not sure what you mean by the first part. The atmosphere? Funny. Philly Wrestling Fans are a rare breed. When we arrived in South Philly they were filming inside without an audience so we had to wait. We weren’t sure if Mickey would actually be there. There were a bunch of trailers out front so I was hopeful. Then a side door opened and Afa the Samoan came out. So, knowing he was training Mickey, I was feeling a bit better. Aronofsky came out with a small film crew and told us he wanted to film the line outside. He asked everyone to act normal and pretend the camera wasn’t there. No one did care! It was amazing! Everyone just looked bored. They just wanted to see the actual matches. We were standing by the front door when it opened and Mickey’s bodyguard came out followed by Mickey right behind him. He had his hair piled on top of his head and a towel around him. He just looked straight ahead and, to be honest, kinda reeked from sweat. He went straight into the first trailer out front and not one person in line acknowledged him! Not one. Once inside, they started the regular matches. I’m not a big wrestling fan so it was my turn to be bored. Then the MC came out and apologized to the crowd and said they had to do some movie stuff but they would get right back to the “real” wrestling. The crew did a quick setup and the MC announced that we were to cheer for Rourke when he came out because The Ram was a good guy. Mickey came out and was high-fiving the audience. He climbed into the ring and sat in a chair facing the “bad guy”. They slapped each other in the face a few times and then Mickey climbed out of the ring and his body double took his place. Then they yelled “cut” and did a quick cleanup and resumed the regular matches. When they came out to do another scene the crowd started getting restless. You can hear it in the YouTube clip you have on the site. They were yelling “boooorrrring” over and over and jeering Aronofsky. That’s when we agreed to get out of there. I had brought along 2 old magazine pages that I grabbed at my brother’s house in case I got to meet Mickey. A few years ago I was walking along the Sunset Strip with my friend Chris. We walked past an outdoor restaurant and there was Mickey Rourke sitting at a table with a brunette. He was banging on the table with his fist like he was angry but, from the way the girl was looking at him and listening to him, he was probably just making a point. Anyway, since I had a camera on me, I decided to wait and see if Mickey would take a picture. At that point, Mickey clocked me staring at him like a mental patient and shot me a real mean look. My friend Chris said he was going across the street to buy meat. He asked me what kind of meat I wanted. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. Why would I want meat while I’m walking on Sunset? He said, “for your eye when Mickey Rourke punches you in the face!” He was right. Mickey didn’t look like he wanted a stalker hitting him up for pictures so I walked away. Anyway, back to present day. I walked out of the New Alhambra at the same time Mickey and his bodyguard walked out. Mickey went straight to his trailer. The bodyguard walked out and left the door open. Mickey was sitting on a couch talking to someone. He looked like he was in a good mood. I didn’t want to just walk up to the trailer and have the bodyguard come back and beat me into chuck roast so I waited. The bodyguard came back and I stopped him and asked if Mickey would sign my magazine. He had some kind of accent. Belgium or French or something. He asked to see my pictures. He said he would get only one signed. A Vanity Fair cover. He brought it up to Mickey and he took his time signing it. It wasn’t scribbled. It was his full name with a little drawing of some sort next to it. I thanked him. He just kind of smiled and nodded and gave it back to the bodyguard to hand to me. The funny part was, after the bodyguard handed me the autograph, a man came up with his young son. The kid had a dvd of Bullet in his hand. The kid was young and that movie isn’t exactly Disney so I had a feeling the Dad was the one that wanted the autograph. He asked the bodyguard if he could get his dvd signed for his son. The bodyguard said, “Not now. He’s working. Maybe later.” The man argued with the bodyguard for a bit which I thought was stupid because the bodyguard had tree trunks for arms. I just walked away feeling really lucky. So that’s my story. MFB: Thanks again Bill and much luck with your ventures… Actual Magazine Mickey Signed for Bill... Here's Bill! Ok, it's not Mickey Standing next to him, but who doesn't like Mini Me "Verne Troyer"...Thanks Bill New Page 1 For more information about "The Wrestler" you can find it on the official site http://www.thewrestlermovie.com, http://www.mickeyfan.net,http://www.mickeyrourkeonline.com and http://tmrwforum.proboards106.com/ Also all other images from Mr. Philly Bill Kerns can be found on MickeyRourkeOnline. So grab yourself some Dew and Duds and hit the seats, because you're in for a wild ride!



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