Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke attended the London premiere of his critically-acclaimed new movie The Wrestler in Leicester Square last night.

The 52-year-old Sin City star, who formerly trained as a professional boxer, stars as Randy "The Ram" Robinson - a wrestler who has left his prime behind him - in the Darren Aronofsky-directed movie.

Rourke has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his performance in the movie and the film also won the prestigious Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Speaking on the red carpet, Rourke said that he had to forget about his boxing past in order to learn about wrestling because they are so different.

"It got in the way because wrestlers don't move like fighters and fighters don't move like wrestlers," he explained.

"It was really more like I had to get my mindset out of that. In boxing, you move very gracefully; these guys move very hulkingly and you can read their punches."