by James Caldwell, Assistant editor

A wrestling fan moviegoer who watches "The Wrestler" and focuses on Mickey Rourke's lead character as Randy "the Ram" Robinson could probably list 20-50 former wrestlers used to model the character.

Lex Luger has been the most prominent name used as the model - or template - for the character, and lead script writer Robert Siegel adds a few more names to the list.

"Every wrestler I talked to is kind of in the ballpark of this guy," Siegel told Alfonso Castillo for Newsday. "The guys who are still wrestling today - Tito Santana, Nikolai Volkoff, the Iron Sheik and Jimmy Snuka. Those are all guys who are out there, still on the circuit. They all - some more than others - have money problems. Their bodies are pretty beat up."

Siegel says the Robinson character was a composite of his discussions and interactions with a variety of different wrestlers to pull from the characteristics and hardships of 1980s wrestlers still around today.

"It wasn't intended to be any kind of expose of the treatment of former wrestlers, but having met these guys, their bodies are pretty beat up, and most of them don't have health insurance," Siegel said. "They love this sport. And in some cases, they love this sport more than the sport loves them back."

Siegel also fleshed out some more details on the story behind "The Wrestler" almost being scrapped since director Darren Aronofsky wanted to take a risk on Rourke in the lead role instead of settling for Nicholas Cage, almost causing the movie project to lose financing.

"Mickey was always the guy we wanted," Siegel said. "But when we first started, he was kind of a liability - to financiers, at least. ... And he (Aronofsky) decided that, even if we have no money or next to nothing, we're going to make this with Mickey because it's the right call. It's hard now to imagine anyone else playing that role."

Link: Newsday interview with Robert Siegel.

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