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"Mickey Rourke has announced that he will portray openly gay rugby player Gareth Thomas in the film version of the athlete&amp;#039;s life.  In an appearance on Alan Carr: Chatty Man, the actor discussed the role and how important it is to get Thomas&amp;#039;s story out to the public. &amp;quot;Here&amp;#039;s the deal. When I met the rugby player, Gareth Thomas, this is one thing that he and I talked about,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;This is something that&amp;#039;s really important. We&amp;#039;re doing a movie about a man who plays rugby who is gay.&amp;quot; Rourke continued by explaining that he was drawn to the story from the minute he began reading the script, saying: &amp;quot;I read the story. It&amp;#039;s one of the toughest, hardest sports in the world to play. They play with no pads. They play... it&amp;#039;s a really brutal sport.  &amp;quot;To be a man who plays rugby who is gay and to live with that secret for the amount of years that Gareth had, to perform at the high level that he performed at, it takes a lot of courage.&amp;quot; No further details about the film are currently available. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a294963/mickey-rourke-to-play-gay-rugby-player/>