The Wrestler/Trivia

• Banned in China: The Iranian Government has condemned it as "Western propaganda" (due to the Ayatollah character).
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Fans of Aronofsky's work will recognize Mark Margolis (who plays Lenny) as Max's neighbor Sol from Pi, old Mr. Rabinowitz from Requiem for a Dream, and Franciscan monk Father Avila from The Fountain.
  • Marv falls for Danika, tries to rekindle his relationship with his daughter Lucy and signs things at Frank's rec center.
    • WWE fans will note that Ron Killings, now known as R-Truth, is among the indie wrestlers that make cameos in the film. Old WCW fans may recognize The Ayatollah as Ernest "The Cat" Miller. And ECW fans will recognize Tommy Rotten and the Blue Meanie.
• Reality Subtext: Randy's wrestling career is a fairly close mirror to Rourke's acting career.
  • The conversation about how the '90s sucked can serve as this for Marisa Tomei as well as Rourke; while she won an Academy Award for My Cousin Vinny, many people sniped that she didn't really win or didn't deserve to win because she won for a comic performance, and her career suffered for a while as a result.
  • Also, before becoming an actor, Rourke was a promising amateur boxer. When his acting career stalled, Rourke decided to go pro at 39. While he was undefeated in his eight bouts, he, like Randy, was at an age where he really did not belong in the ring and suffered serious injuries trying to succeed in a sport he shouldn't have been a part of anymore.
• What Could Have Been: Originally, Nicolas Cage was cast as Randy. He willingly stepped down in favor of Rourke, who was Aronofsky's original choice.
  • Originally, Tomei's character was supposed to be a ballerina, and Black Swan was supposed to be pretty much folded into this. However, the producers felt that it was too much for one movie, and the stories were split in half. They are still considered "two halves of the same movie", however.