For his amazing performance as Randy “the Ram” Robinson in the movie The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke was presented this year’s American Riviera Award at the 24th Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Legendary director Francis For Coppola presented the award. Rourke now joins past recipients include Kevin Bacon, Forrest Whitaker, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

“America is all about second chances and so it’s appropriate that the American Riviera Award that always goes to a U.S. actor should be given this year to Mickey Rourke – who has shown us with his performance in ‘The Wrestler’ to never underestimate a true artist and his power to reinvent himself.” commented SBIFF Executive Di

rector Roger Durling during the announcement of awardees.

On how proud he is of his work on the film, Rourke has told the press, “This was a hard movie to make. It was the hardest godd**ned movie I ever made. It’s the movies I’m most proud of and if I never made another movie, atleast I f**kin’ made “The Wrestler”