Mickey Rourke not reached his best

Apr 28, 2010, 12:42 GMT

Mickey Rourke thinks his best work is yet to come.

The 57-year-old actor - who received widespread critical acclaim for his role as washed up grappler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in 'The Wrestler' - is determined to make the most of his opportunities and plans to keep himself in the best shape possible so he still gets offered good roles.

Mickey - who spent several years in the Hollywood wilderness before appearing 2005's 'Sin City' - said: "I like working again. People say, 'What is the best movie you've made?' and I say, 'I haven't made it yet. I've got to keep moving forward.'

"If you take care of yourself and you live a certain way, watch your diet and you exercise a certain way. And I think if you are a good person and you don't get too much plastic surgery, you could keep working."

The former hellraiser - who was one of the biggest stars of the 80s before his wild partying and difficult behaviour made him a Hollywood outcast - is enjoying his success more now because of the lessons he learned during his lean period.

He added in an interview with the Daily Record newspaper: "I would have enjoyed it if I could have enjoyed it the first time, but I let it go. I understand you pay the price if you're not accountable or responsible or professional.

"And if I knew I was going to mess everything up as bad as I did, I wouldn't have told everybody to get lost. I would have been a good soldier and just marched in line. I made some really bad mistakes and I blame only myself."

Mickey is just as pleased with the success of his 'Iron Man 2' co-star Robert Downey Jr., who has fought back from drug addiction to transform his career.

He said: "I'm so happy with what's happening with him because usually if you have problems with drugs you end up like a garbage can. I can't think of many people who have made it back like he did, because he didn't have a little drug problem, he had a big drug problem."