The search is on for a new actor to play openly gay rugby star Gareth Thomas.
A biopic about Thomas, the Welsh sports hero (and Out 100 honoree) who came out in 2009, has been in the works with Mickey Rourke slated to star, but according to The Sun, Rourke is dropping out of the project as he's unable to get into the sort of shape that the mega-buff Thomas is known for.
"We had talked about using computer-generated special effects with Mickey but we don't think that will be as realistic, so it's time to find someone new," Thomas told the newspaper.
Rourke, who isn't in bad shape for a guy his age (60), said, "The physical thing is harder than I thought. I'm just trying to get fit enough to do it."
Trying doesn't sound good enough. Thomas revealed that his team was talking to "other big-name actors" about the park and, supposedly, Inception's Tom Hardy is in talks to take on the role.
Hardy might be a fitting actor to play Thomas, considering the star once admitted he had his own dalliances with men. "Of course I have," he told Attitude magazine in 2008. "I'm an actor for fuck's sake. I'm an artist. I've played with everything and everyone. But I'm not into men sexually."
