LAS VEGAS - s4story -- Oscar nominated actor Mickey Rourke is still a challenge to work with on a movie set. 17 years after his Golden Globe winning performance in The Wrestler, the actor is still doing things his way.

Speaking to CYInterview, Mickey Rourke's costar in the upcoming film, Devil's Play, Gary Stretch, who is also one of the film's producers and has a history with Mickey, said the actor completely changed the character he was supposed to play in the movie:

"The role was a great role and Mickey changed it a lot. And it was based on a true guy and there were some brilliant scenes in the movie that Mickey just erased and did his own thing, which in some ways I was mad about because it was so brilliantly written, the role. And then in other ways, I'm happy that Mickey did Mickey because he did a great job. But he completely changed it and, but it worked."

Gary Stretch, a former boxing champion/actor/filmmaker, is among other things, known for the 2019 documentary film he directed on former UFC superstar Ronda Rousey, Through My Father's Eyes. Mr. Stretch said Rourke's role in Devil's Play is his best work recently, but also noted that the actor had a couple of meltdowns while filming Devil's Play:

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"I think it's the best I've seen Mickey in a while because he's very real in the film. You know, he had a bit of a meltdown on the set a few times and he was a challenge, but, he, what I will say, is you know, Mickey has a lot of, a bad reputation. He worked really hard. He did his job really well and the only thing, it, was not 100 percent was that he completely changed the role, and so, but we trusted that he's a great actor and we went with it and we made it work, so, it was great to work with him."

Mr. Stretch, a powerhouse actor in his own right, is known for brilliant performances in Oliver Stone's Alexander and the Shane Meadows film Deadman Shoes. He was joined for this CYInterview with his Devil's Play co-star, Bulgarian acting superstar Dessy Tenekedjieva. You can watch him commenting on Mickey Rourke, starting at minute 17 of the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOByJCEG0as



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The director Ben Charles Edwards, also stated that Mickey Rourke described his role in the Devil's Play as "One of my most meaningful performances in the past two decades."

Devil's Play is slated for worldwide distribution by Buffalo 8 on December 19th, via Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and Verizon Fios/Vubiquity. It will be available via a pre-sales launch on Apple on December 5^th.

Produced by Dessy Tenekedjieva of Black Sea Film and Nova Film the movie was shot across Bulgaria, Los Angeles, and London. It featured cinematography from Dennis Madden (Savage Flowers) who delivers masterful visual storytelling.

Learn more about the film here: www.devilsplaymovie.com