Mickey Rourke is in talks to bring the true life tale of British rugby star Gareth Thomas to the big screen.

Thomas made headlines last year when he became the first rugby union player to openly declare his homosexuality. When Rourke read about the sports star's story he immediately arranged a meeting to talk about the possibility of playing him in a film.

According to a spokesman for Thomas' management company: "Mickey Rourke is a big rugby fan and was flying to New York from London recently when he read an article about Gareth and thought he would be the perfect model for a film. Mickey contacted Gareth directly via a mutual friend in rugby league to express his interest and invited Gareth... to meet him for dinner."

"The fact that Mickey is so passionate about doing a moving picture has been really flattering and, although we haven't come to an agreement yet, we're really hoping it does happen. Now it's for the two managers to sort it."

Source: Ace Showbiz