Mickey Rourke has made it one of his life’s goals to snare an Oscar.

Rourke, 57, narrowly missed out on a Best Actor award at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony – to his great friend Sean Penn, who won for Milk.

Rourke, who had been nominated for The Wrestler, said, “I knew I wasn’t going to win the Oscar for The Wrestler before I even got there.

“I knew my reputation would precede me. It’s voted for by people from the movie business and in the past, I’ve hacked them all off. I was good at that – it came easily to me.”

He added: “I stupidly said acting wasn’t a job for a real man. I threatened producers, raged at directors, forgot my agent’s name. I really burned my bridges.

“I’d love to have an Oscar, but don’t you worry – I’ll get mine. If I get the right part and set my mind to it, I will get one.”